Among modern-day piano recordings of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, Angela Hewitt’s has long held a favored place for its stylish perception, controlled virtuosity, intelligent application of dynamics, and warm, beautifully balanced sonics. The pianist phrases fugue subjects and answers with remarkable uniformity and uses sectional repeats as opportunities for subtle ornamentation or shifts in voicing. For the more extroverted Preludes, don’t expect the vehemence and bravura in which Koroliov and Ashkenazy revel. Instead, Hewitt’s tempos, no matter how slow or fast, always appear to be governed by the precepts of song and dance, or else relate to analogous motivic and rhythmic gestures in Bach’s choral and orchestral works.
This especially seems true when the tempos surprise. For instance, the granitic, pesante character Hewitt brings to the A minor fugue in Book 1 justifies her uncommon deliberation, while by contrast she imparts a feeling of two rather than six beats to the bar in the Book 2 G-sharp minor fugue that casts a refreshing, lilting light on a piece that’s often interpreted in a severe, overly reverential manner.
To mark Hewitt’s 2007/08 Bach World Tour, Hyperion brings Books 1 and 2 together at a reduced price in a space-saving box, with preludes and fugues separately tracked, excellent booklet notes by Hewitt, and a catchy cover photo. If you missed Hewitt’s “48” the first time around, don’t look this gift horse in the mouth.
