Wonderfully radiant Angela and the million dollar question at the end :what do you think of Rosalyn Tureck?Who could not have been influenced by the High Priestess …monumental I chipped in…..but Angela’s Bach as she so beautifully replied is based above all on the song and the dance.
Nice to know that at the final concert of the Leipzig Bach Competition which she was chairing it was a choir that sang and had the last word in the celestial world of JSB ………..with the human voice !Q.E.D. https://christopheraxworthymusiccommentary.com/2020/11/18/angela-hewitt-for-the-glory-of-bach-the-pinnacle-of-pianistic-perfection/
It was this the message that she shared with an enthusiastic audience at the RCM in three hours of masterclasses with performances of two Bach preludes and Fugues with Daniel Can playing with great seriousness …..Too much,complained Angela ,Bach can be joyful and fun too!
Reiko Makita with Une Barque and Alborada from Ravel’s Miroirs …pointing to me as a fellow student of Vlado Perlemuter at his home in Paris in Rue Ampere ,who could confirm that he was the prime example of the true French style …sentiment but no sentimentality …..the weight of a true legato where you must have fingers of steel and a wrist of rubber not only to play loudly but above all to be able to play quietly.
Angela had done her homework too as she had heard Reiko’s complete Miroirs on you tube (from a performance in 2018) before meeting her today.
Paul Mnatsakanov gave a brilliant performance of the Italian Concerto that Angela having lived with for a lifetime could show him some telling details of phrasing and dynamic that could turn a bauble into a gem.
What fun we had with question and answers and meeting of old friends before dashing off to her next port of call in a wonderfully frenetic life dedicated above all J.S Bach
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 