JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750)
Hyperion Records CDA 67307
This CD, along with its companion second volume, contain all Bach’s concertos featuring a solo keyboard. The first volume includes the famous D minor Concerto, as well as the Fifth Brandenburg Concerto in D major.
‘As always, she (Hewitt) really sparkles in the allegros, infusing the music with wit as well as technical bravura’ (Sunday Times CD of the Week)
GRAMOPHONE RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Keyboard Concerto No 1 in D minor BWV1052 (22’46)
Allegro (7’37)
Adagio (7’17)
Allegro (7’50)
Keyboard Concerto No 7 in G minor BWV1058 (14’04)
(first movement) (3’41)
Andante (6’34)
Allegro assai (3’50)
Brandenburg Concerto No 5 in D major BWV1050 (19’59)
Richard Tognetti violin, Alison Mitchell flute
Allegro (9’41)
Affettuoso (5’02)
Allegro (5’14)
Triple Concerto in A minor BWV1044 (20’07)
Richard Tognetti violin, Alison Mitchell flute
Allegro (8’35)
Adagio ma non tanto e dolce (4’36)
Tempo di alla breve (6’56)
Hewitt’s Bach is by now self-recommending but only after playing Bach across the world with numerous ensembles did Angela decide that the Australian Chamber Orchestra were the perfect collaborators. After a month of concerts across Australia these recordings were set down in Sydney in February of this year and the frisson of artists operating at the peak of their form is clear for all to hear. One is immediately struck by the quality of chamber-music playing as phrases are passed from soloist to orchestra and, in the case of Brandenburg Concerto No 5 and the Triple Concerto, between all three soloists. Rhythms are buoyant, tempos lively, the spirit of dance is never far away in the fast movements and a perfectly vocal quality pervades the sung lines of the slow movements.
These CDs will surely be the jewels in the crown of Angela Hewitt’s magnificent Bach series.
CLASSICAL CD OF THE WEEK (The Sunday Times)
“Angela Hewitt feels and projects the music with such inevitability that she effectively silences criticism…There isn’t a single bar by Hewitt or the Australian Chamber Orchestra that sounds mechanical or perfunctory. Each work is shaped with a care that enhances rather than detracts from the impression of idiomatic, spontaneous music-making. The balance between Hewitt, her fellow soloists, and the larger ensemble is absolutely ideal, and the engineering in general is fully worthy of the performances. This is an exceptional disc in every respect, and one that offers enough that’s new and insightful to more than justify acquiring yet one more recording of these ever-popular works.” (ClassicsToday.com)
Buy this record at Hyperion: http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/details/67307.asp
For online sales in Canada, please go to: http://angelahewitt.ca
Available audio excerpts from this recording
2 Andante
Bach: Keyboard Concerto in D minor BWV 1052 – First Movement
Brandenburg Concerto No 5 in D major
Keyboard Concerto in D minor
Triple Concerto in A minor – Allegro
