Bach Odyssey begins in Ottawa tonight

russian-hat-for-website

It of course means a lot to me to be performing the complete Bach Odyssey for my hometown audience in Ottawa, Canada. We start tonight with the first programme (all the Inventions, Sinfonias, Capriccios…) and continue on Saturday with the complete French Suites. Somehow I’ve got myself into playing four different Bach recital programmes within the space of three weeks–it wasn’t supposed to be like that at all! The Goldberg Variations comes up in Buffalo, NY on March 22nd; and the first of the Partitas programmes will be presented for the first time in New York City at the 92nd Street Y on April 4th. And in between there’s other stuff, of course. There has to be variety in life! It was good to be back in Winnipeg again last week, performing with the Winnipeg Symphony (Falla and Ravel), and also giving them a solo recital (NOT all-Bach!). I’ve been going there for almost 40 years, and it’s nice to renew old friendships and meet new people. The temperature outside was something like -35C with the wind shield, but us Canadians are tough. Today in Ottawa it’s still below zero but the sun is shining so brightly on the white snow that it’s quite glorious. Here I am in my fur hat, bought in Kiev (Ukraine) in December 1988 when I was touring the Soviet Union!

A few weeks ago I launched the first in a series of masterclass lessons online. This one takes every aspect of Bach’s First Invention in C major and discusses it in detail. You also get all my own fingerings notated, as well as phrasing, articulation, dynamics and ornaments. A true “edition”! You might think that piece is too “easy” for you to be concerned with, but all I say can be applied to every other piece of Bach, so I think it’s worthwhile delving into this. You can subscribe to get one month’s access for £5, or access for a full year for £!0. Not much considering you get all my hard-earned secrets! You can access it by clicking on the banner above, or on this link: www.angelahewittmasterclass.com

Now I must rest before tonight’s recital. It’s a lot of notes, and my mind needs to be clear.