Although Angela Hewitt’s renown rests on her justly acclaimed Bach interpretations, she commands a wider repertoire than you’d suspect: witness her fine Messiaen recital for Hyperion, plus an obscure Canadian LP from the early 1980s containing Schumann’s first two piano sonatas. As with her Bach, Hewitt’s Ravel is never less than musicianly and intelligent, and she channels her cultivated pianism toward serving the scores, rather than the other way around (i.e., Dejan Lajic’s horrid Ravel recital on Channel Classics).
In the Pavane pour une infante défunte, Hewitt ideally integrates the difficult-to-balance melody/accompaniment ratio and projects the often-ignored polyphony within Menuet sur le nom d’Haydn almost as lovingly as Vlado Perlmuter. Note, too, the effortlessly calibrated dynamic gradations and textural interplay she brings to the Sonatine, her infinitely varied jet sprays throughout Jeux d’eau, and a lilting, debonair Valses nobles et sentimentales.
Le Tombeau de Couperin’s intricate, cruelly exposed textures are tailor made for Hewitt’s Bach-drenched fingers. Listen, for instance, to how clearly she centers the opening movement’s spinning filigree while navigating the patterns through deft interplay between the left and right hands. Or how her amazingly varied articulations virtually orchestrate the concluding Toccata, and with the most discreet pedaling imaginable. In Gaspard de la nuit, Hewitt tones down Ondine’s double notes, which fall short of the point and scintillation you hear from Argerich, Michelangeli, and Pogorelich. Le Gibet moves at an unusually slow basic tempo that threatens to crumble under its own weight. Scarbo, however, comes to demonic, virtuosic life.
Similarly, Alborada del gracioso’s red-hot repeated notes and smoldering accents fly off of Hewitt’s dancing fingers. I’m also impressed by Hewitt’s multicolor finger legato in Miroirs’ preceding three movements but find the surface beauty of her La Vallée des cloches static and tight-lipped next to Rubinstein’s heartier inflections or Richter’s shimmering sound world. All told, Hewitt’s finest work in this collection easily ranks with the catalog’s top contenders and deserves serious consideration. As always, Hewitt’s annotations feature hard information about the composer and the music along with fascinating personal comments. [7/13/2002]
