Angela Hewitt, Richard Tognetti - Bach: Keyboard Concertos Vol.2 (2005) [SACD]

This is an equally dazzling display of the Hyperion multichannel recording technique and the musicianship of the marvelous pianist, Angela Hewitt. The seven Bach Keyboard Concertos date from the composer’s final years as director of the Collegium Musicum in Leipzig. Several of them are reworkings of violin and oboe concertos. Concerto movements also were used by Bach in several cantatas. Despite apparent redundancy, this music is as inventive, exuberant and masterfully wrought as The Brandenburg Concertos composed ten years earlier.
Born in Ottawa, Angela Hewitt in 1985 won the Toronto International Bach Piano Competition in memory of Glenn Gould. She is a most worthy bearer of the Gould legacy. Hewitt provides a full measure of Bach’s unique outpouring of joy and solemnity. Achieving an ideal balance of emotion and scholarship, the overall effect of her playing is stunning. Her tone is crystalline, partnering ideally with the delicacy of her ornamentation.
The ACO, led from the violin by Richard Tognetti, includes 17 string players and one harpsichordist. They are joined by two flautists on loan from the Scottish Chamber and Sidney Symphony Orchestras. This responsive, finely tuned group makes music as one with Angela Hewitt. Recorded in Verbugghen Hall at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in February 2005, the act of listening to these Bach keyboard works approaches rapture. Counterpoint has rarely been so clearly articulated, instrumental focus and balance seldom so naturally rendered. The multichannel format literally surrounds the listener with Bach’s music.
Hyperion engineers have done Angela Hewitt, the ACO and, above all, J. S. Bach fine service. Essential music, exceptionally performed and recorded. A must!


Tracks:

Concerto for harpsichord, strings & continuo No. 4 in A major, BWV 1055:
1. Allegro
2. Larghetto
3. Allegro ma non tanto

Concerto for harpsichord, strings & continuo No. 3 in D major, BWV 1054:
4. [first movement]
5. Adagio e piano sempre
6. Allegro

Concerto for harpsichord, strings & continuo No. 2 in E major, BWV 1053:
7. [first movement]
8. Siciliano
9. Allegro

Concerto for harpsichord, strings & continuo No. 5 in F minor, BWV 1056:
10. Allegro
11. Adagio
12. Presto

Concerto for harpsichord, 2 recorders, strings & continuo No. 6 in F major, BWV 1057:
13. [first movement]
14. Andante
15. Allegro assai

Personnel:

Angela Hewitt (piano)
Australian Chamber Orchestra
Richard Tognetti (conductor)