Customer Reviews

Bach Performance on the Piano [DVD Video]

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Hyperion produced this two-disc DVD set as part of Miss Hewitt's 07/08 Bach World Tour (bachworldtour). It is shot on location at the Fazioli piano factory in Italy (Hewitt highly favors these pianos). Even if you are purely a listener, this nicely done production will take you to a new depth of discovery and appreciation into the legendary music of Bach and Angela Hewitt.

Disc 1 (148 min) is instructional with Hewitt demonstrating various techniques, strategies and advice in 7 chapters (see list below). I suppose it is something akin to her Bach master's classes. She uses numerous musical motiff examples from the WTC and much of Bach's keyboard repertoire to show what she means. These alone are endlessly fascinating to watch the pianist's ease, fluidity and nuance. She often compares to how an amatuer would play it ... and of course how the she would approach it. One is immediately impressed with Hewitt's love and discipline with this music. She is also a great educator, weaving both technical detail and personal stories in the lessons. The camera work is quite good, showing at a slight angle from the right the keyboard work of both hands up close. Up this close, you can see just how strong her steel-spring-like fingers are for playing Bach like she does! Of course she makes it look effortlessly.

Disc 2 (62 minutes) is a live performance at the Fazioli factory auditorium - where of course she plays an absolutely gorgeous Fazioli Concert Grand. These pianos are noted for their super-fast action, complex yet brilliant and clear harmonics and the addition of a special, forth pedal for enhanced dynamic shading. Of course she makes Bach sing and sound beautiful on it. The camera work again is good allowing one to see most of the action unhindered, although at times of sections of fast passagework (like in the chromatic fantasy/fugue) the camera is more on the pianist than the keyboard. The sound is rich and full as is her playing, making for an impressive concert.

A small missed opportunity perhaps was not getting a 'virtual tour' of how they make pianos at the Fazioli factory, whose instruments in various stages of assembly are in the background during the shoot. Side bar: for piano afficiantos, there is a marvelous little chapter about the Fazioli factory in the charming memoir, "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank" by Thad Carhart.

DISC 1

Chapter 1: Introduction
- Early beginnings
- Bach on the modern piano

Chapter 2: The Essentials
- Phrasing
- Singing tone
- Articulation
- Imitating bowing
- Gamba sonata with D. Muller-Schott
- Fingering
- The left hand
- Pedalling

Chapter 3: Intrepretation
- Tempo
- Dynamics
- Rythymic alterations
- Rubato
- Keys

Chapter 4: The Dance in Bach
- Dance in Bach's music
- Dance and tempo

Chapter 5: Learning a Fugue
- Articulation
- Fingering
- Intrepretation

Chapter 6: Ornamentation
- Basic rules
- Adding ornaments

Chapter 7: Practical Advice
- Editions
- Practicing
- Memorizing
- Performing


DISC 2 - CONCERT PERFORMANCE
1. Partita No. 4 in D major
2. Italian Concerto in F major
3. Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D minor

Curiously enough, I was moved to purchase this video by one of the less-than-stellar reviews on this page; I already knew Angela Hewitt to be a fine artist, and though I strongly doubted that there would be any basis for claims like "It's all about Angela" and so forth, this disparaging review added to the interest I already had about this DVD set.

It is my pleasure to opine that such criticisms are unjust. Indeed, I am put in mind of the words of Erasmus in "The Praise of Folly," when he (as Folly) observes that no accomplishment is possible unless a person has some measure of self-love and of thinking well of one's self; without these, the orator goes silent, the musician hangs up the instrument, etc.. Ms. Hewitt has as much confidence in her own opinions as any artist of her eminence should have. She thinks she knows how to play J.S. Bach, and she thinks she has something to teach others about the subject. But I found nothing at all condescending about her presentation (nor am I quite sure why the reviewer felt Glenn Gould's name needed to be invoked; as fine a musician as I concede he was, did Bach playing start and end with him?).

The first disc is a 2 1/2 hour presentation where Ms. Hewitt speaks on different aspects of Bach performance, sometimes with touches of humor (e.g., her amusing facial expressions when trying to play something as a beginning student would; her comment that the Schirmer edition of Bach, except for Ralph Kirkpatrick's Goldbergs, should be "banned"). This is rich in information, but I must concede that the technical nature of the presentation will be daunting to many, especially non-performers who are more taken with Ms. Hewitt's artistry than the 'nuts and bolts' of her technique.

However, the second disc is an hour's worth of her simply performing Bach: the Fourth Partita, the Italian Concerto, and the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue. This portion of the release will be accessible and delightful to music lovers no matter what their level of technical knowledge.

I found this DVD set quite wonderful, and not at all what I would have been led to expect by the uncomplimentary reviews that called this "all about Angela" and condemned her as "snooty." I personally find no basis for such criticisms, and I doubt the average viewer will either. With only the caveat previously mentioned of the technical nature of much of Ms. Hewitt's lecture--which may not be as interesting to some as it was to me--, I would highly recommend this release.

I try to play some Bach at the piano every day for about an hour. I'm finding the first disc of this set really helpful and challenging, even though I'm only about half way through it. There's a lot of advice-some of which I hadn't heard before, some of which I hadn't heard expressed and demonstrated in quite this way. There's a lot of conflicting information floating around about how you're supposed to play Bach, and its great to have an interpreter of this caliber lay out her knowledge and opinions so thoroughly and clearly. Even if you aren't a player, Hewitt's lecture will increase your understanding of her approach and the challenges of playing Bach generally. Highly recommended.

There are two discs--a series of lessons on disc 1 (see Mr. Lekan's list) and a live performance on disc 2. What Angela Hewitt does on disc 1 is set forth her approach to playing Bach. Even though I am not a musician--or perhaps because of it--I got more from disc 1 than from any other single Bach record I own. The reason is that Ms. Hewitt not only tells you what she thinks is the way to play Bach, but she does the telling from a piano bench, and then she turns to the piano and plays to illustrate exactly what she is talking about. She illustrates how a singing tone is achieved; she illustrates how she modulates timing and emphasis to achieve an effect similar to the way we modulate our voices as we talk or sing; she brings in the 'voices' one by one to show what happens as polyphony is built up. What Ms. Hewitt is really after, it seems to me, is to avoid monotony in her playing, and add the equivalent of color, light, and shadow. I will admit some of the lecture was beyond me. However, what I could follow is already adding immensely to my enjoyment of Bach--and not only her playing, but that of others. I am now enjoying listening and comparing Hewitt's playing of a particular piece with Gilels' playing or Gould's or Perahia. In short, I am hearing the music better now because of her instruction. Also, I take it as given that Ms. Hewitt is explaining her playing and her understandings, and that other Bach masters would differ with her. It matters not--let them come forth with their DVD and I may buy it too. Her explanations have meant much to me already.

Highly recommended!!

F. Horne

Angela Hewitt est sans doute ma pianiste préférée pour JS Bach. Elle est issue d'une tradition de femmes vraiment amoureuse de cette musique. J'ai toujours un grand bonheur à la voir (malgré son physique ingrat) et à l'écouter. DVD très recommandable, car d'une profonde pédagogie, pour pénétrer les oeuvres du cantor.

What a treat to be able to hear the insights of this wonderful Bach performer. Ms. Hewitt has accomplished something grand and rare, and that is sharing freely of her years of experience, scholarship, practice, and performance. Concise and clearly written, and occasionally lightened with good humor, Ms. Hewitt's mini-"lectures" are delightful and highly instructive. While much of the lessons are more meaningful to advanced piano performers, someone beginning to study Bach will gain invaluable insights into development of good habits and a logical progression in learning Bach's music. I am very grateful to Ms. Hewitt for her generosity in creating this program and for showing us the way to taking the performance of Bach's music to a higher level.

My mother told me when I was 10 that if a pianist plays so well that you think you can do that, it is only because they had practiced hard and long. Obviously Hewitt had done the practice. Excellent views of her hands on the keyboard. Hewitt explains Bach quite well too.

Her tone of voice in the masterclass portion rubs me the wrong way. She makes it sound as if she alone can intuit Bach properly. And much of her masterclass--though somewhat informative in terms of performance and historical practice--is a bit sophomoric in scope and ultimately a waste of time and DVD space.

The performance portion is only slightly more enjoyable. I guess after sitting through her seemingly endless masterclass I'm not much of an Angela Hewitt fan. I'm probably gonna review my Hewitt CDs and decide if I need to replace them with other bach interpreters.

For the record, I'd enjoy the DVD a lot more if there was no masterclass (and a slightly longer concert program) attached. Currently I can't finish viewing it, knowing her approach to Bach performance and interpretion.

My two cents.

150 minutes of Angela speaking to us from her pinnacle left me with not only a realization of how foolish of it would be of mere me to ever attempt to play Bach again, but also a certain lack of desire to hear anybody else try what only the queen herself can (almost) manage.
Angela thinks too much. Yes, there is depth upon depth in Bach. With the profundity there is solace but also the sheer joy of playing. I see (and hear) Hewitt diving for the depths but I don't sense she's have much (any!) fun at all, ever.
Who's her intended audience? Some of the remarks are just plain sophomoric ("Bach fathered 23 children so he must've had a warm heart"??? Angela couldn't even get a job as intern at The Onion with lines like that), while others seem directed at maybe a handful of professional pianists in the world who can even attempt to manage five voices at one time.
One glaring omission: The entire 2 1/2-hour production is about playing Bach on the piano but she mentions neither the importance of tunings and temperaments nor the physical requirements and/or adjustments desirable in a modern piano on which one intends to play Bach.

Angela Hewitt in her bid to out do Glenn Gould must be commanded for her bold undertaking even if one wonders about the motives. Playing Bach live is a very courageous endeavor.
In this well filmed but quite long DVD, Angela Hewitt is kindly condescending to teach us, common mortals, about Bach but mostly to make us understand why we would not be able to reach her pinnacle: at the top of the Bach mountain, there is only room for one and even Glenn would have to concede... Not once, he is mentioned! Considering that Bach's playing in the XX century truly exploded with him, it is somewhat surprising in my opinion. Not that Gould's playing should not be exempt of criticism, but his contribution to Bach music is invaluable, like it or not.
Of course the basics, the backgrounder about Baroque music style and Bach in particular is presented and this is good: the various editions, the ornementation, the parallel with string players, the differences between Harpsichord and modern piano -she really hates these harpsichordists doesn't she?-. All this is fine.
But after 148 minutes filmed in the Fazioli factory, the equivalent of a surgery block clean manufacturing grounds compared to the Steinway digs for instance, one really wonders what they'll take home and work on.
Did we learn about how to play Bach, the rules of articulations or did we learn about Ms. Hewitt own cooking and given her tone, how unlikely we would come close to having the imagination, taste, talent she possesses in order to approach this music.
She mentions Ottawa Canada, but one feels she is now safely back from the "colony" to the civilized motherland...
The problem is that Ms. Hewitt is unaware of some recent developments that have exposed rules of small speech like articulation and their reasons, their relations with the symbolism of Bach music (Teregulov 1993, Nosina 1991, 1993 re-issued in 2006).
Therefore she presents her own interpretation of rules -my father did this...- and often goes against the grain. For instance she explains that Bach's markings are supposed to be taken as rules in a piece when they appear at one spot while in fact, his markings were signaling a particular character, even an exception to the known rules, those very rules known to Kappellmeisters and thus never written on keyboard scores but clearly indicated on orchestral scores or string scores. Dear Daniel Muller-Shott is obliging with an overdone Baroque sound inflating and deflating and his eyes betray the devotion to the great priestess of the cult...
So as a result Ms Hewitt often brushes over rules and talks more about her own figuring out what works for her than truly offering students regardless of their level, real, workable rules that universally enhance the polyphony in their playing.
Thus in her bid to become the Bach interpreter of our troubled time, Ms. Hewitt indeed in this DVD reveals herself to non musicians something her playing anyway does to musicians who know the rules.
It is well filmed although sometimes the reflection of the scripter can be seen on the gleaming Fazioli.
A curiosity but one to consume with moderation...