| Angela Hewitt Plays Beethoven Sonatas (review from amazon.co.uk) |
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The Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt (b. 1958), named as Gramophone's Artist of the Year in 2006, is best-known for her performances of Bach. But she has recently been recording the piano sonatas of Beethoven with splendid results. Her first CD featured the "Appassionata" sonata together with two earlier, lesser-known works, opus 10 no. 3 and opus 7. In this CD Hewitt offers a program of three early Beethoven sonatas including the Sonata Pathetique, opus 13, the Sonata in C major,opus 2 no. 3, and the sonata in D major, opus 28 ("Pastorale") which again combines in an appealing way familiar with less-known works.
Ms. Hewitt's performance is relaxed, introspective, and compelling. She plays Beethoven with a great deal of rubato and with changes of tempo among the different sections of a movement. Her performances are lyrical and carefully thought-out rather than brash and heaven-storming. Dynamics tend to be subdued but Hewitt captures the drive and the contrasts of Beethoven's scores. Hewitt has also written excellent program notes for this recording.
The best-known work on this CD is of course the Sonata Pathetique, composed in 1799, which virtually every great pianist has recorded and which countless amateurs, including myself, have attempted to play. Hewitt gives a dramatic rendition of the opening "grave" introduction followed by a cleanly-performed, and rapid, rendition of the following passionate allegro di molto e con brio. Hewitt takes the indicated repeat, including the opening slow introduction. The adagio cantabile is taken in a simple, lyrical manner while Hewitt takes the concluding rondo at a rapid tempo, with many shifts in speed and rhythm. The finale sounds light under her hands rather than as an attempt to continue the drama and tragedy of the opening movement. (Pianists have interpreted this finale in both ways.)
The other two sonatas on the CD are less frequently played but they are no less great Beethoven. On the whole, Hewitt gives them a more individual reading than she does with the Pathetique. The nickname "Pastorale" to the opus 28 sonata was not Beethoven's, but it fits the work. Although more conservatively written than the sonatas of opus 26 and opus 27 (including the "Moonlight") this lyrical expressive work was among Beethoven's favorites. It includes a long lyrical theme over a repeated drone in the opening movement and a finale in 6/8 that proceeds at a leisurely, walking pace until the fiery conclusion. The third movement is a short humorous scherzo, but the highlight of opus 28 is the beautiful mysterious theme of the slow movement which in the course of the work is expanded and embellished with lovely filigree. Hewitt brings out the best of this lovely sonata.
The sonata in C major, opus 2 no. 3 is a young man's work, written when Beethoven had just moved to Vienna and was trying to conquer the musical life of the city through his gifts at the piano as well as through his compositions. The work is dedicated to Haydn, from whom Beethoven, in spite of himself, learned a great deal. This is a large-scaled, virtuosic, and ambitious work in four movements featuring large stretches for the hand (including a notoriously difficult opening tenth at the outset), long passages of difficult arpeggios and skips, dramatic trills and tremolos, contrasting themes, and varing tempos. In its virtuosity, size, and ambition, this early work is a predecessor to Beethoven's "Waldstein" sonata, written some ten years later. Hewitt plays this excellent early piano sonata of Beethoven with enthusiasm and flair.
This is a wonderful CD of Beetoven sonatas by a first-rate pianist.
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| Magical moments - with a few low points (review from amazon.co.uk) |
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Coming off a pretty hot first Beethoven CD (Appassionata), Angela Hewitt continues her Beethoven exploration with two "name" sonatas and a very early (appx. 1794) sonata, Op. 2 no. 3. To the latter - which is a real highlight of the disc and a favorite of both performers and audiences alike - Hewitt brings great sparkle and character. The other two more popular sonatas have their highs and slight lows - but mostly highs. I would have liked a bit more spice and less seeming hestitation in certain movements of the Pastoral and Pathetique. But, in general, this is satisfying Beethoven playing with marvelous momements of expression (eg: the last movement in Pastoral and the entire Op. 3 piece) that is somewhat on the gentile-mannered side but with different insights that grow on you with further listening. It is thus still recommended.
Hyperion seems to have upped their sound quality a bit in Hewitt's last two Beethoven discs as the sound is superb albeit with the typical Hyperion slight spacious resonance. It might also have to due with the bright, bold Fazioli piano Hewitt has used regularly for the past few years. Compositions - 5 stars; Performance - 4 stars; Sound quality - 5 stars.
As this CD did not have a lead Amazon review, here is one from a reviewer at Gramophone who is a frequent contributor. His review largely captured my sentiments, but says it better.
Reviewed: Gramophone 6/2007, Jed Distler
Summary: A less than overwhelming Pathétique but otherwise fine playing in Vol 2.
The Pastoral Sonata leads off Angela Hewitt's second Beethoven sonata cycle instalment, and she taps into the music's overall geniality while also paying heed to its darker corners. In the first movement, her accompaniments are full and resonant, yet convey a murmuring, disembodied aura, while she gauges the development section's silences and transitions to particularly dramatic effect. She also plays the central movements well, although the Andante's staccato left-hand lines are more characterfully bassoon-like in Stephen Kovacevich's hands, and some might prefer Richard Goode's more impetuous, angular fingerwork in the Scherzo. Yet I love Hewitt's conversational give-and-take between the droning left-hand ostinato and the main theme at the Rondo finale's outset.
Having enjoyed Hewitt's edgy, fervent Appassionata, her Pathétique seems underplayed and studio-bound by comparison. Her fastidious, occasionally rounded-off execution softens the outer movements' ardour and momentum (she follows Rudolf Serkin's example by taking the first movement repeat back to the Grave introduction).
Hewitt's way with the C major Sonata, Op 2 No 3, boasts considerable profile and personality. Her tempo fluctuations in the first movement (the lyrical G major theme, for example) illuminate rather than detract from the structure, while the Andante appears more internally animated than one would guess from its nearly eight-minute timing (Goode and Kovacevich take more than a minute less). The contrapuntal acumen that distinguishes Hewitt's Baroque interpretations brilliantly comes to the fore in the Scherzo. In contrast to the pouncing scintillation Kovacevich and Richter bring to the Allegro assai, Hewitt evokes Rubinstein's urbane poise and patrician control, and treats the display passages in the manner of rapid melodies. Small wonder that Hewitt considers this one of Beethoven's most fulfilling sonatas to perform. In addition to Hyperion's superb sound, Hewitt, as usual, provides her own penetrating, vividly articulate annotations.
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