Angela Hewitt’s triumph with Bach and Brahms on the 152nd anniversary of the first performance of Brahms D minor Concerto op 15 in England on 9 March 1872 at the Crystal Palace .A certain Miss Baglehole was the soloist who was obviously not up to the job being criticised for not having the strength to play such a modern work where the piano is pitched against the orchestra .
Angela promised that would not be the case today and the power she gave to the great black beast before her shook the beautiful St Andrew Holborn to the rafters.There was lyrical radiance and searing intensity too as Angela was like an animal unleashed at last able to show us that not only Arrau could stand his own against the orchestra.
This was after another D minor concerto ,that of Bach, where Angela conducting from the keyboard showed us what a High Priestess can really do by turning Bach’s sublime knotty twine into moments of ravishing beauty and dynamic drive with breathtaking contrasts in dynamics and a rhythmic buoyancy that was hypnotic with its subtle refined insistence .
Angela’s generosity towards helping young musicians is well known and culminates in Masterclasses wherever she may be performing or living :
Angela’s generosity and infectious Song and dance inspires her illustrious students.
Tonight she was supporting the Fidelio Orchestra that has been created by Raffaello Morales with ‘the purpose of creating opportunities for young musicians to get orchestral experience and to collaborate with outstanding soloists’.Similar to the Southbank Sinfonia in London and the Roma Tre Orchestra in Rome and to some extent the Oxford Philharmonic of Marios Papadopoulos.
Marios Papadopoulos – a giant bestrides the city of dreaming spires
I expect and hope that there are also many other ensembles created to give this invaluable experience to graduate musicians, often superb young soloists hoping for a career, but just lacking the experience of working together and learning to listen and breathe with others in a chamber music environment.
Angela has also played solo recitals in the nearby Fidelio Cafe as have many of her illustrious colleagues ,which is a fun and unsophisticated environment with a commitment to bringing people together offering superb music combined with cordon bleu cuisine!
No ‘cuisine’ tonight but two master works by Bach and Brahms.One conducted by Angela who has played and conducted the Klavier Concerti of Bach with many of the major ensembles worldwide .Her experience and musicianship will be of lasting benefit to these young musicians as making music with a ‘High Priestess’ will remain with them as an informed and unforgettable experience for the rest of their professional careers.Brahms of course requires much larger forces and whilst the strings produced a luscious sometimes ravishing sound the winds and brass will have learnt to listen more closely to the overall line that Raffaello was depicting with his beautifully fluid gestures.It gave us the public,though, a chance to hear a pianist ,who is world renowned for her Bach and classical playing, in a different more Romantic repertoire .We should not forget that her programmes this season have included the Brahms F minor Sonata and Schumann Sonata op. 11 as well as completing her Bach Odyssey in many parts of the globe and final recordings of Beethoven 32 Sonatas and Variations as well as complete Mozart Sonatas .I well remember her performance of the Liszt B minor and Dante Sonatas in Rome ,as well as the Goldberg Variations,of course ,shortly after winning the one and only Glenn Gould Competition in Canada in the 80’s.She has also recorded much of the French repertoire including complete Ravel and also major works by Fauré, Chabrier and Messiaen.
Angela writes :
I miss my friend the late Michael Steinberg who was Artistic Advisor to both the San Francisco Symphony and Minnesota Orchestra back in the 80s/90s. He wrote the most wonderful programme notes (many published by OUP) and he was the person who got me to start talking and writing about music. The dearest of friends. Well, I was reading his wonderful note on Brahms’ First Piano Concerto this morning and he mentions that the first performance in England was on March 9, 1872 at Crystal Palace, London, and the pianist was a Miss Baglehole (no joke). I’ve found a review of the concert, an extract of which is below. It’s the usual thing: how a lady can’t play Brahms. So in celebration of International Women’s Day which is tomorrow, I’m posting this and saying that I shall play the Brahms D minor with more balls than a lot of men–believe me!!! And I see we’re performing it on Saturday on the 152nd anniversary of its first performance in England.
AMAZING ANGELA TODAY IN BEVAGNA
Happy Birthday Canada Trasimeno Music Festival
L’Impero dei Sensi – Angela Hewitt and Enrico Bronzi play Mozart in Perugia
Jonathan Ferrucci at the Trasimeno Music Festival The long voyage of discovery of a real artist
Angela Hewitt – The 100th Anniversary season of the Accademia Chigiana in Siena.Bach shining brightly with intelligence,ravishing beauty ……and wit.
ChristopherAxworthy-MusicCommentary 