.... boring yes intolerable no .... but definitely prim
JS Bach
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Once again, Ms. Hewitt couldn't resist finishing with a theatrical flourish...
I rest my case.
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Vinteuil: Modern piano Bach playing I condone are Perahia (Partitas, English Suites, Goldberg Variations), Ekaterina Dershavina (Goldberg Variations - stunning and available for a measly £2.34), Koroliov (Well-tempered Clavier) and, a rather leftfield choice, this disc by Pogorelich (2 English Suites, 4 Scarlatti sonatas).Last edited by Thropplenoggin; 28-03-13, 22:11.It loved to happen. -- Marcus Aurelius
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Originally posted by vinteuil View PostI find the prim Hewitt intolerable.Our chief weapon is surprise...surprise and fear...fear and surprise.... Our two weapons are fear and surprise...and ruthless efficiency....
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Richard Tarleton
Chaps (because I think you are all chaps, those who are expressing yourselves so forcefully) - I'm probably going to regret asking this, but am keen to learn. Please can you explain exactly what it is about Angela Hewitt you find so dislikeable? Are "prim" and (from a year or so back, but it was quite a vivid phrase) "the Anita Brookner of the piano" musical judgements, and if so how do they express themselves (e.g. touch, phrasing, whatever)? Are these qualities evident in a blind tasting? "Prim" strikes me as the sort of judgement I'd expect to hear in a Hilary Finch review
I'm assuming it's not simply a "Bach on the piano" category, as she is the focus of dislike in a way that Schiff, Perahia, Brendel and others are not.
I've heard her live a couple of times only (one a small and intimate Bach recital that included the Goldberg), and have a few of her discs, including Couperin and Rameau as well as Bach (I think her Goldberg was the award-winning disc referred to above, was it not?). Talking to her after a concert, the words that spring to mind are pleasant, open, amusing, certainly not prim.
She's not even on my short list for most annoying Canadian pianists
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You are right that this is specific to Angela Hewitt rather than "Bach on the piano". At least for me.
And yes I like to think a blind tasting would suffice.
"Prim". "The Anita Brookner of the piano". A good phrase that, almost the sort of one I might have come up with....
There is something about her remorseless neatness, everything just so tidy and clean, that puts me in mind of an earnest primary school teacher or a governess. In the end I find it has the effect of a synthetic fibre as opposed to a natural linen or silk; of a synthetic formica as opposed to a natural wood or stone. One just knows everything is going to fall into place "just so" - and not in a good way : a phrase will occur once mezzo-forte and on its repeat just so perfectly - predictably - accurate to within a decibel - mezzo-piano - ("See! I'm making a contrast!!").
I'm not looking for Schnabel-esque handfulls of wrong notes. But I want to believe in a warm human being behind the fingers.
In the end I find her extraordinary technical prowess, with no ability (for me) to convey an underlying musical sense - life-denying.
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Originally posted by vinteuil View PostYou are right that this is specific to Angela Hewitt rather than "Bach on the piano". At least for me.
And yes I like to think a blind tasting would suffice.
"Prim". "The Anita Brookner of the piano". A good phrase that, almost the sort of one I might have come up with....
There is something about her remorseless neatness, everything just so tidy and clean, that puts me in mind of an earnest primary school teacher or a governess. In the end I find it has the effect of a synthetic fibre as opposed to a natural linen or silk; of a synthetic formica as opposed to a natural wood or stone. One just knows everything is going to fall into place "just so" - and not in a good way : a phrase will occur once mezzo-forte and on its repeat just so perfectly - predictably - accurate to within a decibel - mezzo-piano - ("See! I'm making a contrast!!").
I'm not looking for Schnabel-esque handfulls of wrong notes. But I want to believe in a warm human being behind the fingers.
In the end I find her extraordinary technical prowess, with no ability (for me) to convey an underlying musical sense - life-denying.
What he said.
Eloquently put, vintner.It loved to happen. -- Marcus Aurelius
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Originally posted by vinteuil View PostYou are right that this is specific to Angela Hewitt rather than "Bach on the piano". At least for me.
And yes I like to think a blind tasting would suffice.
"Prim". "The Anita Brookner of the piano". A good phrase that, almost the sort of one I might have come up with....
There is something about her remorseless neatness, everything just so tidy and clean, that puts me in mind of an earnest primary school teacher or a governess. In the end I find it has the effect of a synthetic fibre as opposed to a natural linen or silk; of a synthetic formica as opposed to a natural wood or stone. One just knows everything is going to fall into place "just so" - and not in a good way : a phrase will occur once mezzo-forte and on its repeat just so perfectly - predictably - accurate to within a decibel - mezzo-piano - ("See! I'm making a contrast!!").
I'm not looking for Schnabel-esque handfulls of wrong notes. But I want to believe in a warm human being behind the fingers.
In the end I find her extraordinary technical prowess, with no ability (for me) to convey an underlying musical sense - life-denying.
(Rather like my reaction to Richard Goode in Mozart piano concertos. The playing gets more irritating the more you listen to it.)"...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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Richard Tarleton
Well, thank you all....I rather think the "Anita Brookner" was one of yours, M. Vints, if memory serves.....
I did find myself relating very positively the other week to Caliban's reaction re Richard Goode....
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Originally posted by Richard Tarleton View PostI did find myself relating very positively the other week to Caliban's reaction re Richard Goode...."...the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices..."
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