Ottawans are lucky this summer. They get me twice! Once for the complete Art of Fugue on August 15th at Dominion-Chalmers Church (for the RCCO convention), and--just announced today--two concerts with the NAC Orchestra on July 18th and 19th! This will be a very exciting occasion: a live recording for Hyperion Records of two of Mozart's greatest piano concertos (No. 22 in E-flat major, K482 and No. 24 in C minor, K491). My third volume of Mozart Concertos for Hyperion. And the conductor will be Hannu Lintu! Pieces by Sibelius round off the programme. Not to be missed (unless you are a cougher, in which case, please don't come!). Tickets go on sale May 21st. I'm thrilled to be doing a recording with the NACO--the orchestra I grew up with. Let's fill Southam Hall for the occasion!

http://nac-cna.ca/en/orchestra/event/6457

I was in Copenhagen last time I wrote. That trip to the Canary Islands was a long (and noisy) one. A plane full of Norwegians going on holiday! I was the only person who obviously wasn't going on holiday. A nice concert in Las Palmas, and good to see some familiar faces there. The recital up in Southport was a bit bizarre. I played the first half, and then asked at intermission to see a programme. Ten minutes later they came back saying there wasn't one and that everyone was asking what it was I had just played. Honestly! So I decided on the spur of the moment that the Art of Fugue was perhaps not for them, and instead played Bach, Schubert, and Ravel. The audience, however, in London's Royal Festival Hall was wonderful. Total attention from them. How satisfying that is! It was a night I will long remember (the photo was taken during my speech before the Bach). You can read the review from The Guardian here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/may/08/angela-hewitt-review?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487

Tonight I performed at Canada House in Trafalgar Square--solo and also accompanying the wonderful baritone Gerald Finley. That was fun! it was an invitation only event. As the Canadian government doesn't give one cent anymore for promoting our culture abroad, our High Commissioner is hoping to raise money from private and corporate donors to put on a programme of events--as there used to be. I made my UK debut there over 30 years ago! I wish them success.

The Mozart CD was featured in The Daily Telegraph last weekend. You can read that here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/classicalcdreviews/10046864/Mozart-Piano-Concertos-in-G-major-K453-and-B-flat-major-K595-classical-album-review.html

At the moment I am changing cities at least every 48 hours if not more. And also changing countries. From my concerts with the Northern Sinfonia, I went immediately to Birmingham to play the programme I am touring with at the moment that includes the second half of The Art of Fugue by Bach. From there I went to Bari in southern Italy. From there I went back to Nottingham (stopping briefly overnight in London). From there I went to Bristol. From there I went to Hohenems in Austria for the Schubertiade (where I replaced my opening piece of Bach with Schubert's Valses Nobles). Now I am waiting for the first of two flights to take me to Copenhagen. From there I will go to the Canary Islands. Are you dizzy yet? From there I go back to London for 48 hours. Then up to Southport, an English seaside town near Manchester. Then I will "land" at London's Royal Festival Hall when I will play this very demanding programme for the International Piano Series--my second recital for them this season. It's wonderful to hear Beethoven's penultimate sonata, the Op. 110, along with the Art of Fugue. Both such intimate works--and among the final musical creations of their authors. If you get the chance to be near one of the places I'm performing it, don't miss it! The Art of Fugue is not an easy ride, but it's worth it.

http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/find/music/classical/tickets/angela-hewitt-62838

Also this week: I have a new CD release! My second volume of Mozart Piano Concertos, this time with the Orchestra da Camera di Mantova conducted by Hannu Lintu. It includes the concertos in G major, K453 and B-flat major K595. Now available on itunes, on Hyperion's website, on this website, via other online retailers, and in the remaining CD shops left in the world.....

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/mozart-piano-concertos-nos./id615315712?ign-mpt=uo%3D4

And last but not least: my Trasimeno Music Festival has been named one of the Best Music Festivals in Italy by Travel & Leisure Magazine! See the list by clicking on the link. Booking for tickets to all events for the general public opens in just a few days--on May 1st. Go to the festival website to book (www.trasimenomusicfestival.com).

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/best-italian-music-festivals

Has it really been that long since I wrote in my blog? Sorry about that! In early April, after spending Easter at my home in Umbria, I played recitals in Monfalcone (near Trieste) and Luxembourg (my first time there). The latter was in a small auditorium in the depths of the Banque de Luxembourg—next to the vault! Then it was back to London for, unusually, ten days at home without a concert. I immediately picked up food poisoning from something I bought at the local supermarket. Dreadful. It’s hard enough coming home after almost six weeks away, and finding so many things to do that have piled up in your absence, and having to re-adjust to life at home (yes, honestly!), and unpack, and everything else without being made sick by Tesco’s. In any case, I was back to mostly normal in a few days, and am on the anti-parasite herbal pills which really help. I was just beginning to enjoy being at home again, when it was time to leave—this time for a really crazy bout of travelling and concerts all over Europe. This week I gave two concerts with the Northern Sinfonia in the north of England. They were marvellous and it was pure joy to work with them. (The photo is with their leader, Bradley Creswick). We did a monster programme of 2 Bach Concertos and 2 Mozart Concertos, all of which I conducted from the keyboard. Tonight we played in Kendal on the edge of the Lake District. While writing this I am in a car on my way to Birmingham where I should arrive at 1:30 am. My Art of Fugue recital is at 3 pm tomorrow. I’ll do it. When that was planned, I didn’t know about the concert in Kendal—otherwise that really wouldn’t have happened. But we had such a wonderful audience there tonight so I’m at least very happy!

The third online auction of the Trasimeno Music Festival, run by the Canadian Friends, is now open for the next two weeks. This is your chance to have a private piano lesson with me--something I only do for charity. There is one lesson for an adult amateur, and one lesson for a young student. All proceeds go to the festival. To place your bid and see details, please go to:

http://www.charityauctionstoday.com/store.php?md=1&username=TMF

Last week I was in Naples for a day and a half, lecturing on Bach to a group of piano teachers from all over Italy. The event was organized by the Italian pianist Michele Campanella (seen kneeling in the photo) and it was such a pleasure to meet him. The other lectures were also very illustrious: Paul Badura-Skoda (on the right in the photo), and Joaquín Achúcarro (to the left). Imagine giving a Bach lecture in front of Maestro Badura-Skoda! And all in Italian! The teachers were hugely appreciative, and it was fun to be in Napoli again.

I am truly happy. And I don't say that lightly. I mean it. I have performed the complete Art of Fugue now in public. Last night in Florence was my first time with Contrapunctus XI-XIV (the photo is of the final, unfinished bars of No. 14) and the 4 canons. And the first time I played Beethoven Op. 110 in about 15 years. Those two things together, along with the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue by Bach (which was somehow different, even though I've played it for almost 40 years--I think it was influenced by the terrifying feel of D minor in the Art of Fugue....). What a programme--especially since most of it was "way-out-there" music and rather anti-virtuoso, anti-noise, anti-most things. The essentials of life pared down. Last works. At the very end I played Vor deinem thron tret' ich hiermit, BWV 668--the chorale that Bach supposedly dictated on his deathbed and that was inserted on the final page of the first edition of the Art of Fugue. Applause after that seems misplaced. Never have I heard such silence in the audience in Florence as I heard throughout this recital. And to top it off, I played my own Fazioli which was absolutely amazing--especially for the Beethoven. Now for tonight in Rome (minus my own piano!).

Well, that was a switch--to go from Istanbul to Helsinki! And not just in climate. But the sun has shone brilliantly all week in Finland, even though it has still been below zero. I always enjoy being here, because the Finns for sure love their music. Every time I come I make more new friends and also get the chance to see existing ones (and meet up outside of Facebook...!). This week, after a few days in Helsinki (the photo was taken in front of the Cathedral there), I went to Lahti to give two performances of Mozart's Concerto K.450 with the Lahti Symphony under the young Finnish conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali. One of the concerts was in Hämeelinna, the birthplace of Sibelius. They are very fortunate to have a great hall in Lahti (the Sibelius Hall). On my last day I gave a recital of Bach's Goldberg Variations in a more intimate hall in the music conservatory. People were very moved to have experienced that at such close range. The performance of it in Istanbul was also memorable--and I was treated so warmly there by the organizers and audience. The view of the Bosphorus from my hotel room window gave you both Europe and Asia in one glance. Now it's on to Italy and my first performances of the second part of Bach's Art of Fugue. I have been working on it like mad. It is incredibly difficult. Last night in the hotel, the fire alarm went off at 6 am--ruining my sleep for good. Just when you need it.....

It has been quite a week here in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. After playing last week for some school children in Magione, Umbria (where I have my festival), I jumped on the plane in Florence and arrived here at midnight. Early the next morning I was already in rehearsal with the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, conducting four Bach Concertos from the piano. It was a challenge getting them to play Bach in the style that I wanted, but we made it in the end and had huge pleasure in the concert! It was on International Women's Day (here in Turkey...!), and all the soloists besides myself were also women--the concertmaster and the two flautists. They never get the chance to play such a programme of Baroque music, and they told me how important and satisfying it was to them to do so. The musicians of that orchestra are of different nationalities--not just Turkish, but Albanian, Bulgarian, Russian (or at least from Uzbekistan), and I don't know what else. I had to tell them, while respecting their religions, that the slow movement of the D minor keyboard concerto is really "passion" music....Christ on the cross and all that...and that it needed to be played in a sorrowful manner. It helped! Afterwards, with some friends from the Canadian Embassy, it wasn't easy to find a place open that had food, wine, no smoke, and music that wasn't deafening (although we had a live pianist) all in one. The Marriott rooftop lounge was the only place in the end that fulfilled all requirements. I am still here, working away like mad on The Art of Fugue. Two weeks left until I play the second half for the first time in public. I need every hour I can find, even though I am finally beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Last night I gave an impromptu performance at a dinner at the residence of the Canadian Ambassador, John Holmes and his wife Carol, for people again of all different nationalities. Friday night I'm in Istanbul to perform The Goldberg Variations. It's a very different city from Ankara. For sure there will be more to report from there!

So much has happened in the past week, and so little time to report it all! For sure things get posted quicker on Facebook, so please "like" me there, and you will get my news instantly! I simply can't manage it all at once and do my practising and all the million other things.

Last week while in Ottawa I visited the kids in the Orkidstra programme--similar to the El Sistema project. Aged from 5 to 15, they come from underprivileged families and get free tuition. I played the violin along with one group, and conducted their orchestra in a March of von Suppé! Bravo to all the staff who give so generously of their time to make this project such a success. It was on Valentine's Day, and so they presented me with this huge card, signed by them all.

Then it was off to Durham, North Carolina--except that the trip there, instead of taking just a few hours, took 24 hours door to door. Terrible snowstorm in Toronto; 2 flights cancelled; chaos at the airport; overnight in an airport hotel; up before dawn to finally get a flight; arrived a few hours before the recital. But the audience was welcoming and appreciative, and packed the hall at Duke University. Back to my hometown of Ottawa after that, and the same Bach/Debussy programme at the National Arts Centre for a capacity audience of well over 2000. It's always very moving to see the support I have here at home. I played a beautiful Fazioli piano (who knows, maybe it will soon become my own.....)--the one I chose at the Fazioli factory several years ago to have here in Eastern Canada. The line-up for CDs at the end of the concert resembled those in China and Japan: endless! Great to see so many friends and fans. Then a reception with 40 or so Friends of my Trasimeno Music Festival.

Yesterday, after a short night, I was already at the University of Ottawa, my alma mater, to give a 2-hour masterclass jointly sponsored by the University and the Ottawa Registered Music Teachers Association. It was nice to hear the young kids who played only Bach for me. Then I performed myself at a reception, hosted by University President Allan Rock, for donors to the University, including former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and his wife Aline (herself a great lover of classical music).

Now it's time for serious practise on new repertoire.

Where does the time go? At the beginning of February I was in five different cities in five days: Brussels, Amsterdam, London, Ottawa, Washington. Just getting myself and my suitcases from one place to the next demands considerable time and effort. At the end of January I gave a recital in Pistoia (a pretty town near Florence), played a Mozart concerto with the Brussels Philharmonic in a place called Hasselt (didn’t see much of that as I arrived in the dark and left in the dark and only saw the concert hall), repeated the same in the famous Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, then crossed the ocean and this past weekend gave two recitals in Washington (Kennedy Centre) and Chicago (the fantastic Symphony Center—see photo). The latter was especially memorable. A large audience, extremely attentive, and such a marvellous reception from them. I played the Fazioli 308 model (biggest piano in the world), kindly provided by Pianoforte Chicago. The programme of Bach French Suites, one of his Toccatas, and suites by Debussy and Ravel (each containing a Toccata and other dance movements) was a joy to play. In Washington I also gave a masterclass at the Washington Conservatory. In my spare time, I am trying to learn the second half of the Art of Fugue which I must perform for the first time next month. Help! And every day brings at least fifty new e-mails to answer (those are the important ones). OK…enough complaining. Back to the piano!