JS Bach

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

.... boring yes intolerable no .... but definitely prim

[JFLL]

... yes, I shall be outraged.

I am happy with many performances of Bach on the piano.

I find the prim Hewitt intolerable.

Crime, outrage, intolerableness ... Who would have thought we were in the genteel eighteenth century?

[Thropplenoggin]

Once again, Ms. Hewitt couldn't resist finishing with a theatrical flourish...

I rest my case.

--

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).

[Nick Armstrong]

I find the prim Hewitt intolerable.

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

I find the prim Hewitt intolerable.

I remember when one of her Bach releases was awarded Gramophone's Recording of the Month or Editor's Choice or some such accolade. My jaw's still on the floor.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

JEG waxes

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I didn't realise that Angela Hewitt caused so much ire. I tend to regard her as a Fazioli agent.

[arthroceph]

hehe, or a Steinway double-agent :-)

[MrGongGong]

http://www.overgrownpath.com/2013/04/can-you-imagine-bach-without-religion.html

[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

[vinteuil]

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.

[Thropplenoggin]

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.

What he said.

Eloquently put, vintner.

[Nick Armstrong]

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.

Couldn't put it any better than that

(Rather like my reaction to Richard Goode in Mozart piano concertos. The playing gets more irritating the more you listen to it.)

[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....

[Nick Armstrong]

I did find myself relating very positively the other week to Caliban's reaction re Richard Goode....

Off-topic I know but v quickly, I've given the BAL recommendation of Goode's performance of K459 a good listen, as I had the presence of mind to record it on the DAB radio. I think I've listened 4 or 5 times. It seems more and more soulless and irritating the more I hear it