This is the second in a series of Beethoven CDs by Angela for Hyperion. The programme comprises three Sonatas which she has played in public for many years: the lyrical “Pastoral” Op. 28; the famous “Pathétique”; and the virtuoso C major Sonata Op. 2 No. 3–one of the highlights of early Beethoven.
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This recording, the third in the series of Beethoven piano sonatas, comprises four works from three different periods of the composer’s life. As with the two previous recordings, there was no particular plan governing their being put together, other than the inclusion of one very famous sonata (in this case the ‘Moonlight’) with others that are less often heard. The Op. 26 Sonata contains a funeral march; the Op. 10 No. 2 is a concise masterpiece of humour in music; the two movements of Op. 90 are said to be depictions of speech and song, with the second of the two sounding a lot like Schubert.
“Angela Hewitt’s Beethoven is like no one else’s.” (International Piano Magazine)
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Angela Hewitt presents a fourth volume in her acclaimed series of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, which has delighted her fans worldwide.
“… This disc opens with an elegant interpretation of the infrequently performed Sonata No. 11 (Op. 22), paired with a searching performance of the Sonata No. 18 (Op. 31, No. 3). The disc also includes a powerfully rendered Sonata No. 28 (Op. 101).” (The New York Times)
“Not since the great Hans Richter-Haaser has a pianist produced Beethoven playing of such trance-like purity and vision.” (Julian Haylock Sinfinimusic.com)
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Angela Hewitt has been much praised in her earlier recordings of Beethoven’s piano sonatas—displaying ‘exquisite taste’—and now turns her ‘uncluttered clarity of thought and inspired structural pacing’ to four more works spanning the composer’s career. As ever, Angela’s accompanying notes provide fascinating insights into both the music and her performances.
‘This fifth volume, for the most part, offers interpretations characterised by intelligent virtuosity and cultivated artistry … obviously [Angela Hewitt’s] long experience with Bach is an asset here!’ (Gramophone)
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Another instalment of Angela Hewitt’s much-lauded Beethoven presents five piano sonatas, culminating with the masterly ‘Les adieux’. As usual, Angela’s booklet notes muse compellingly on the music, performance practice and all things Beethovenian.
‘Angela Hewitt leaves few stones unturned in projecting the linear specificity of Beethoven’s style’ (Gramophone)
‘Angela Hewitt’s latest Beethoven recording comes with her customary intelligence and scrupulous attention to detail’ (BBC Music Magazine)
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This latest instalment of Angela Hewitt’s Beethoven is bookended by the great ‘Tempest’ and Op 109 sonatas. The performances—incentive enough to acquire this release—are as usual complemented by Angela’s own booklet notes which provide real insight into how she approaches these masterworks.
‘As we would expect from Angela Hewitt, there’s much thoughtful and deeply-felt playing here. Hewitt is particularly successful in Beethoven’s slow movements: the lyrically sustained Adagio of the Tempest Sonata Op 31 No 2, the gently lilting Andante of the little G major Op 79, and the profound serenity of the concluding variations in the Sonata Op 109’ (BBC Music Magazine)
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The penultimate release in Angela Hewitt’s cycle of the complete Beethoven piano sonatas. The listener’s understanding is again enhanced by Angela’s illuminating booklet notes, in which she sets out her approach to performing these most canonic of works in the entire piano literature.
‘Clarity is the key quality of the recording as much as of these performances … Angela Hewitt evidently works hard to make every detail, however tiny, tell, while at the same time striving for perfection of overall form … Hewitt also has an ability to relish surprise, while making sure that the thing we’re led to expect makes more sense than what was anticipated’ (BBC Music Magazine)
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This second volume of the Sonatas for Cello and Piano by Ludwig van Beethoven completes the cycle begun in 2008 by Daniel Müller-Schott and Angela Hewitt. Recorded in the stunning acoustics of the Jesus-Christus-Kirche in Berlin, this CD includes the final two sonatas (Op. 102) which are totally different in style and construction from the earlier ones. The slow movement of the D major Sonata is one of Beethoven’s most touching moments. Also on the CD are three sets of variations, which delight with their freshness and invention.
“…the two players instinctively click and the music comes across with vibrancy, sensitivity and a galvanising unanimity of purpose.” (The Daily Telegraph)
“The performances have the winning freshness of rediscovery.” (The Sunday Times)
DAILY TELEGRAPH CD OF THE WEEK
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The piano music of Chabrier deserves to be better known. His Dix Pièces Pittoresques were described by Poulence as being “as important for French music as the Preludes of Debussy”. Chabrier’s infectious gaiety is captured on this disc which includes all of his major piano works.
“Angela Hewitt plays this refreshing selection with the same poetry, elegance and dancing touch that made her other French discs for Hyperion so special.” (The Times, London)
GRAMOPHONE EDITOR’S CHOICE
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Angela Hewitt takes a well-deserved break from her mammoth Bach and Couperin surveys to present us with this enthralling set of Chopin’s complete Nocturnes and Impromptus, recorded on her own Fazioli concert grand piano.
“What we get in many of these riveting performances is deep, raw emotion, of a sometimes agonising immediacy, all the more painful for the almost impossible beauty and elegance of its expression.”
(Piano Magazine, UK)
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If Bach, why not also Couperin on the piano? Purists will be shocked, but Angela Hewitt makes an impressive case for it, and this disc became a bestseller!
‘By turning her attention to these works, Angela Hewitt may succeed in reviving and popularising Couperin’s enchanting music as no modern-day harpsichordist has been able to do’ (Gramophone)
‘Of all living pianists, Hewitt makes the strongest case for hearing Bach on the piano as opposed to harpsichord. Here, she applies the same staggering technique and intellectual grasp to three suites by François Couperin … outstanding’ (The Independent)
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A second disc for those who were enamoured of Angela Hewitt’s initial survey of the keyboard works of the great French master, François Couperin.
‘In the expert hands of Angela Hewitt, François ‘Le Grand’ Couperin makes as easy a transition from harpsichord to piano as has Bach. The difference is that many people may – and should – now be listening to Couperin for the first time.’
(The Guardian)
‘For someone of Angela Hewitt’s pulling power to invite her fans so enticingly down so unfashionable a path…is brave; and it’s right’ (BBC Music Magazine)
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This is the third and final CD in Angela Hewitt’s best-selling Couperin series. Here she presents the Thirteenth Ordre (with the colourful variations Les Folies Françoises ou Les Dominos), along with a selection of separate pieces from various suites, including The Nightingale in Love (14th Ordre).
“Hewitt’s dynamic shading and careful ornamentation work together to produce the scintillating musical equivalent of light shining through crystals.” (Toronto Star)
“The crispness and clarity of Hewitt’s performances, especially her apparently effortlessly elegant ornamentation, bring these and all Couperin’s other musical pictures instantly to life.” (Daily Telegraph)
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