Bach, J S: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1

Admirers of Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt's lightly articulated and elegantly phrased Bach playing won't be disappointed by this recording.
These qualities characterise the playing of each and... — Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 More…

Catalogue No: CDA673012
Label: Hyperion
Series: Angela Hewitt Bach
Length: 1 hour 56 minutes

Penguin Guide

Rosette

Work length1:56:07

$48.00

$60.00

Angela Hewitt (piano)

No 01 in C major, BWV846. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length2:08

$1.00

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No 01 in C major, BWV846. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length1:56

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No 02 in C minor, BWV847. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length1:31

$1.00

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No 02 in C minor, BWV847. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length1:45

$1.00

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No 03 in C sharp major, BWV848. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length1:24

$1.00

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No 03 in C sharp major, BWV848. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length2:14

$1.00

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No 04 in C sharp minor, BWV849. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length2:31

$1.00

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No 04 in C sharp minor, BWV849. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length5:27

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No 05 in D major, BWV850. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length1:21

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No 05 in D major, BWV850. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length2:09

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No 06 in D minor, BWV851. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length1:42

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No 06 in D minor, BWV851. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length2:34

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No 07 in E flat major, BWV852. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length3:34

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No 07 in E flat major, BWV852. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length1:42

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No 08 in E flat minor, BWV853. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length3:40

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No 08 in E flat minor, BWV853. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length5:36

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No 09 in E major, BWV854. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length1:27

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No 09 in E major, BWV854. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length1:07

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No 10 in E minor, BWV855. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length2:19

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No 10 in E minor, BWV855. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length1:10

$1.00

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No 11 in F major, BWV856. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length1:02

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No 11 in F major, BWV856. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length1:35

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No 12 in F minor, BWV857. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length1:52

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No 12 in F minor, BWV857. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length4:38

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No 13 in F sharp major, BWV858. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length1:31

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No 13 in F sharp major, BWV858. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length2:19

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No 14 in F sharp minor, BWV859. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length1:01

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No 14 in F sharp minor, BWV859. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length3:16

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No 15 in G major, BWV860. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length0:55

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No 15 in G major, BWV860. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length3:00

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No 16 in G minor, BWV861. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length2:01

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No 16 in G minor, BWV861. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length1:45

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No 17 in A flat major, BWV862. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length1:26

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No 17 in A flat major, BWV862. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length3:06

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No 18 in G sharp minor, BWV863. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length1:29

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No 18 in G sharp minor, BWV863. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length2:22

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No 19 in A major, BWV864. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length1:27

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No 19 in A major, BWV864. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length2:00

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No 20 in A minor, BWV865. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length1:03

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No 20 in A minor, BWV865. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length5:38

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No 21 in B flat major, BWV866. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length1:20

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No 21 in B flat major, BWV866. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length1:51

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No 22 in B flat minor, BWV867. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length4:01

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No 22 in B flat minor, BWV867. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length3:10

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No 23 in B major, BWV868. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length1:03

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No 23 in B major, BWV868. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length2:24

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No 24 in B minor, BWV869. Movement 1. Prelude

Track length4:47

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No 24 in B minor, BWV869. Movement 2. Fugue

Track length6:48

$1.00

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Here is Book 1 of Bach's immortal 'Forty-eight' played by Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt of whose recording of the Partitas Australia's Soundscapes magazine said: 'Only superlatives will do. My appreciation of this Canadian pianist is enormous; I classify her among the top performers of our time.' And Gramophone said of the same set: 'Hardline purists who baulk at the thought of Bach on the piano should put aside their convictions long enough to hear Angela Hewitt.' Angela Hewitt's '48' (Book 2 will be issued next year) is destined to join the small list of the very greatest recordings of Bach's incomparable masterpiece. The set is graced by her own absorbing and perceptive notes on each of the Preludes and Fugues, the subjects of which are all printed in the CD booklet.

Reviews

2010

Admirers of Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt's lightly articulated and elegantly phrased Bach playing won't be disappointed by this recording.
These qualities characterise the playing of each and every one of these profoundly didactic yet sublimely poetic pieces. Her restrained use of the sustaining pedal, her consequently clearly spoken articulation, and the resultant lucidity of musical thought, bring to mind the recorded performances of Edwin Fischer. Hewitt certainly sounds more comfortable in a studio than Fischer ever did, and her technique is more consistently disciplined than his was under these circumstances. Her reflective view of the more inward-looking fugues, such as the lyrical one in E flat minor, is most attractive. Taut, but with a suppleness that's entirely devoid of stiffness, this is indeed cogent and gracefully beautiful playing of a high order. You may sense, from time to time, an overtly intense element of subjective thought in her understanding of the music, a quality which seems to be endorsed by occasional references in her lively, illuminating and detailed introduction, to Bach's 'sense of inner peace', and so on. However, to conclude on a thoroughly positive and enthusiastic note, these are performances of Book 1 that you'll want to hear many times over. The recording and instrument sound well, too.
Hewitt's Book 2 is a delight to both ear and mind. Everything is in the best taste and free of exhibitionism. There are subtle tonal nuances, natural rises and falls of dynamics, well-defined differentiation of contrapuntal lines and appreciation of the expressive implications of Bach's chromaticisms. Throughout her playing of these preludes and fugues – several longer, more mature and more demanding than those of Book 1 – there's a sense of unhurried poise, with flowing rhythm. The air of tranquillity is underlined by her frequent adoption of very quiet openings, many of which then take on a warmer tone towards the end – even the E major Fugue, which Landowska labelled 'combative', is handled quietly, yet she's able to sound contemplative (as in the E major Fugue) without lapsing into Tureckian reverentiality.
Just occasionally Bach's more intense movements tempt her into emotional rubatos which, though musically affecting, take Bach out of his century, and not everyone will care for the big allargandos she makes at the ends of some of the earlier movements. Otherwise these are musicianly and imaginative performances.

Bach, J S: The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1

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