Discography

» Debussy: Solo Piano Music

Angela Hewitt’s previous forays into the French repertoire have been praised for their ‘tenderness, Gallic wit, verve, and—the most important ingredient of all—charm’. These qualities are very much to the fore in this new disc of Debussy featuring some of the composer’s most sunlit, delightful and popular works.

‘An ideal introduction to Debussy… one that can be enjoyed equally by experienced listeners – thanks to the artless touch and precise colours the Canadian pianist brings to each piece’ (Financial Times)
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» Fauré: Piano Music

Angela Hewitt’s recordings of French piano music have received the highest critical acclaim. Now she turns to a composer who is more serious and introspective, with a refinement that has led to him being relatively overlooked by performers. But in Angela Hewitt’s hands this music is an utter joy.

This album includes the major work Thème et Variations, Op 73—one of Faure’s greatest works for piano—and a selection of Valses-caprices and Nocturnes. It ends with a more radiant piece from Fauré’s youth, the earliest piece included on this recording—the Ballade pour piano seul, Op 19, dedicated to Saint-Saëns.
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» Liszt: Piano Sonata & other works

Angela Hewitt’s notes for this important new album describe a teenager’s moment of revelation when she first came to appreciate the epic masterpiece that is the Liszt Piano Sonata. Here we have a heart-felt recording where this palpable sense of wonder is manifest alongside Hewitt’s enthralling technical facility at the keyboard.

The programme is completed by the second half of Liszt’s dazzling second Année de pèlerinage collection: the three Petrarch Sonnets and the noble Dante Sonata, the latter composed as a fund-raiser for the Bonn Beethoven monument in 1839.
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» Messiaen: Piano Music

In this disc, Angela Hewitt shows her affinity for French piano music, presenting the early Préludes of Olivier Messiaen, along with several of his Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus and Île de feu 1 and 2.

Rarely, if ever, can Messiaen’s piano music have been played with such refinement’
(Classic CD)

‘A revelation’ (The Scotsman)
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» Messiaen: Turangalîla Symphonie

Angela Hewitt is the piano soloist on this Ondine recording (Hybrid SACD) of Olivier Messiaen’s mammoth Turangalîla-Symphonie, played by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hannu Lintu. The ondes martenot soloist is Valérie Hartmann-Claverie.

“This is a performance of distinctive, evocative character, full of pertinent, dramatic incident and structured with confidence and vigour.”
The Daily Telegraph
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» Mozart: Piano Concertos Vol. 1

‘Judging from this first example, it’s going to be a journey as revelatory as her exploration of all the major keyboard works of Bach. It’s going to be a thrilling ride.’
(The Observer, London)

‘Some magical Mozart here from Angela Hewitt, who directs the Orchestra da Camera di Mantova with aplomb, zest, and most of all, style’ (International Piano Magazine)
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» Mozart: Piano Concertos Vol. 2

Angela Hewitt turns to two of Mozart’s greatest and most popular concertos for her latest album. Together with her frequent collaborators, the Orchestra da Camera di Mantova and brilliant Finnish conductor Hannu Lintu, she presents these works in performances which are both elegantly stylish and profoundly felt. This release is completed by a personal reflection on the music by Hewitt herself in the accompanying booklet.

Angela Hewitt (piano), Orchestra da Camera di Mantova, Hannu Lintu (conductor)
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» Mozart: Piano Concertos Vol. 3

Two of Mozart’s greatest piano concertos are featured on this album in which Angela Hewitt is partnered by Ottawa’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, conducted by Hannu Lintu.
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» Rameau: Keyboard Suites

Following in the footsteps of Angela Hewitt’s best-selling Couperin CDs for Hyperion, here is a disc of keyboard pieces by his compatriot, Jean-Philippe Rameau, who was a master dramatist. The E minor Suite contains his well-known “Tambourin”.

“Her performances have a wonderfully fluid stylishness…and they are founded upon a willingness to use the full tonal resources of a modern concert grand in a way that seems to make utterly irrelevant any question of what is historically or musicologically “correct” in playing this music.” (The Guardian, January 2007)

“…a revelation” (International Record Review)
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» Ravel: The Complete Piano Works

The complete solo piano works of Maurice Ravel are presented here on two discs, reminding us that Angela Hewitt plays more than just Bach!

“a magnificent survey … a treasure trove!” (Gramophone)

“second to none”
(The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs)
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» Scarlatti: Sonatas, Vol. 1

Baroque pianist par excellence Angela Hewitt turns to the rich seam of Domenico Scarlatti keyboard sonatas. There are 555 in total—here Angela performs sixteen of the finest.

‘With so much experience playing music of the Baroque, you’d expect something highly personal from Hewitt. Even in a sonata as well known as the lilting Kk9, we hear it afresh, with no turn of phrase going unconsidered. In the bustling Kk159, replete with horn calls, she reveals as much interest in the inner parts as in the outer ones’ (Gramophone)

‘This excellently recorded disc is outstanding. In her detailed essay Hewitt intimates a wish to issue further volumes. Wonderful news!’ (BBC Music Magazine)
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» Scarlatti: Sonatas, Vol. 2

‘In short, this release attests to Hewitt’s deep affinity for Scarlatti, her exemplary musicianship and her gifts as a programme-builder’ (Gramophone)

‘Her gossamer touch makes Scarlatti’s rapid passagework and figurations sound light as summer rain, while his fiddly embellishments sparkle and shimmer’ (BBC Music Magazine)
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» Schumann: Humoreske and Sonata Op. 11

Angela Hewitt’s first recording of works by Robert Schumann will come as a surprise to many, but it is repertoire that she has lived with for several decades, ever since she was a prizewinner in the International Schumann Competition in Zwickau (Schumann’s birthplace) in 1977. Both works on this CD deserve to be heard more often than they are.

“A compelling Schumann player” (Classic FM Magazine)

“unreservedly superb” (The Guardian)
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