Angela Hewitt directs Bach and Mozart

The Guardian
Evening Standard
Boulezian blog
Financial Times
The Times
The Sunday Times
The Observer

The Guardian, Rowena Smith
Britten Sinfonia/Hewitt – review
West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge
5* 

Britten Sinfonia’s programme featured renowned Bach interpreter Angela Hewitt and one of the composer’s greatest keyboard works, although there was a twist since Hewitt did not play the Goldberg Variations – rather these were programmed in an arrangement for string orchestra. Instead Hewitt played Bach’s keyboard concerto in F minor, a work whose vivacious outer movements are thrown into relief by the serene central largo. An attractive aspect of Hewitt’s playing is her way of creating contrast in a way that avoids affectation. Here the spikiness of the outer movements was tempered with warmth while the calmness of the slow movement was simply given space to unfold.

Hewitt’s approach to Mozart was equally appealing. The E flat major concerto K271 is less familiar than later works in the same key, but it is full of drama on an intimate scale. Hewitt brought to this a sense of suspended stillness before chasing away any shadows with a playful account of the finale. Bridging the two keyboard concertos with Stravinsky’s orchestral Concerto in D was an inspired choice, revealing the influences of Bach and Mozart on the later composer’s brand of neoclassicism.

Devoid of Hewitt’s compelling presence, the second half of the concert could have been an anticlimax. Instead the account of the Goldberg Variations was the outstanding performance of the evening, testament both to the success of violinist Dmitry Sitkovetsky’s arrangement for string orchestra and the quality of the Britten Sinfonia’s playing. Sitkovetsky’s arrangement demands impeccable ensemble, intonation and articulation; these were all delivered in an astonishing performance that preserved the delicate contrapuntal intricacy of Bach’s original. The result was musically compelling as well as something of a virtuoso tour de force for the Britten Sinfonia strings.

Evening Standard, Nick Kimberley
Nick Kimberley’s rating  5*
Britten Sinfonia take control

Conductors have their uses but they don’t come cheap, and many ensembles do without, in the process developing notions of shared music-making that autocratic conductors don’t always foster.

So it is with Britten Sinfonia.
Instead of conductors it has instrumentalists who direct while playing, sometimes the orchestral leader - here, Thomas Gould - sometimes soloists, in this instance, the Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt. In Bach’s Fifth Keyboard Concerto, Hewitt’s familiar virtues were amply displayed: sprightly rhythms, discreet ornamentation, elegance and energy. Her Fazioli piano had a fizzing brightness that made the strings sound slightly flaccid but while her gestures towards conducting looked unwieldy there was no lack of orchestral precision.

In Mozart’s Ninth Piano Concerto, the addition of oboes and horns imparted tension, and Hewitt’s reading seemed freer. She stood down for Stravinsky’s Concerto in D, having given a performance that was transparent, witty and alert to time signatures. The only thing lacking was Stravinskyan asperity.

Bach’s Goldberg Variations are one of Hewitt’s pièces de résistance. This, though, was not the keyboard version but an arrangement for strings by Dmitri Sitkovetsky, who divides the players (20 of them) into myriad combinations, each setting up new possibilities of harmonic interplay. Gould had violins and violas standing, which introduced an extra element of engagement.

Everyone played like a soloist, while paying close attention to everything around them and appearing to enjoy themselves. Many conductors simply wouldn’t tolerate that.

Boulezian blog
Britten Sinfonia/Hewitt - Bach, Stravinsky, and Mozart, 4 April 2011
Queen Elizabeth Hall

The Britten Sinfonia is on a high at the moment, almost the only musical winner from the latest savage Arts Council funding settlement. (I still shudder with horror at my naïveté in having taken at face value Nick Clegg’s relatively encouraging words concerning the arts: ‘useful idiot’ was Lenin’s phrase, I believe.) Nevertheless, it is encouraging to note one good cause rewarded against a desolate backdrop indeed. It is richly deserved, even though the misfortunes suffered by others are not. For this programme, the orchestra was joined by Angela Hewitt for two concertos, whilst left in the capable hands of Thomas Gould for Stravinsky’s Concerto in D and Dmitri Sitkovetsky’s string orchestra transcription of the Goldberg Variations.

Bach’s F minor piano concerto opened the programme, more a showcase for Hewitt than the orchestra, though it provided dependable accompaniment. Hewitt imparted strong rhythmical and harmonic understanding to the external movements and pearly tone that might almost have been taken for Murray Perahia’s. The slow movement was graceful, if somewhat cool; I did not care for her staccato bass notes, though orchestral pizzicati hit the spot.

Stravinsky’s concerto for string orchestra was firmly announced at the very outset as being ‘in D’, echoing his piano Serenade in A. Pitch is crucial here rather than tonality, which remains a ghostly presence: D, rather than D major, is the thing. Motor rhythms, recalling sewing-machine neo-classical Bach, were imprinted upon the consciousness in an absolutely secure performance from the Britten Sinfonia. Articulation was first-rate, likewise interplay between the string sections. The slow movement sounded, as it should, as if it wanted to sing like Tchaikovsky, yet could not, or could not quite bring itself to do so. There was some beautiful string playing here, tonally alluring and alert to every harmonic shift. It sounded closer to Prokofiev than I can recall hearing before: more than fine with me, though I suspect that Stravinsky might at least have claimed to think otherwise. The finale was quirky yet never grotesquely so. Strong leadership from the front desk of first violins (Gould and Beatrix Lovejoy) recalled The Soldier’s Tale.

Hewitt returned for what Alfred Brendel rightly called ‘one of the greatest wonders of the world,’ Mozart’s first truly great piano concerto, no.9 in E-flat major, KV 271. The first movement received a perky reading, with nicely shaded piano contributions, unerringly tasteful. In this work, and this work alone, however, I missed a greater body of strings, and more generous string vibrato. The orchestra sounded properly dark in the slow movement, yet low-calorie vibrato led to some whining moments: a pity. Oboe solos, however, were especially fine. Hewitt contributed a true sense of drama, her playing far from merely pretty; that said, I did not care at all for the abrupt conclusion. This is an aria from start to finish. The finale was full of life, and again nicely shaded, both orchestrally and pianistically. I almost forgot my desire for greater tonal refulgence: the English Chamber Orchestra at least, though the Vienna Philharmonic would be preferable. Yet the extraordinary slow minuet interruption sounded skated over, wanting profundity; it failed to tug the heart strings as it should. The final bars, however, were enchanting.

Sitkovetsky’s Goldberg transcription is a wonderful discovery (for me, that is: it has been around for a while). I cannot imagine a string transcription more inventive without being unduly fussy. Here solo, tutti, and somewhere-in-between passages alternate with such natural ease that one might almost imagine one were listening to a Baroque concerto grosso. The shift from the opening Aria to the fully scored first variation sounded just that way, and what a relief it was that the players employed considerably more vibrato than they had in the Mozart. Gould’s solo in the Aria sounded almost Romantic, at least in contemporary terms, and was all the better for it. Tempi were always well chosen, with a keen sense of variety but also of overall progression. Counterpoint was not only clear but harmonically meaningful. Where necessary, there was a creditable, almost Handelian sturdiness, so pitifully absent from most Bach performances nowadays, yet by the same token, the players showed fleetness of foot when required. Minor-mode variations, and not just the ‘Black Pearl,’ revelled in Bach’s chromaticism, leading us towards Berg whilst also suggesting the dignity of the ancient viol consort. The celebrated ‘Black Pearl’ itself had an entirely apt French – dare I suggest Purcellian? – lilt to its stately progression, its beauty gravely frozen. Rich tone indeed was applied to the delightful Quodlibet, a just reward for a fine performance, before solo instruments returned for the closing Aria. Everything was the same, yet everything was entirely different. Bach-lovers must take comfort where they can in a reductive age, actively hostile to the challenges the composer sets: here was not only comfort but inspiration.

Financial Times
Britten Sinfonia, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London
3*

 

Surviving the polar winds that blow across East Anglia must ensure that local species are hardy. Based in Cambridge, the Britten Sinfonia has developed a distinctive artistic profile that gives it a competitive advantage and, with its grant increased even in this icy economic climate, should be thriving for its 20th anniversary next year.

Having chosen to go it alone without a principal conductor, the Britten Sinfonia works with a range of collaborators. The most recent is pianist Angela Hewitt, who devised a programme based on her favourite Bach – though by the time it arrived in London the event had grown to a double concert lasting three-and-a-half hours and with enough ideas for two evenings.

The first part featured Hewitt in Bach’s Keyboard Concerto No.5 and the youthful Mozart’s Piano Concerto K271. This is home ground for Hewitt and her playing in both concertos was perfectly polished, with notes tumbling out like strings of pearls, the left hand especially a model of clarity. The only problem was that having the piano lid removed (so that she could direct the orchestra) really dulled the sound, even of her beloved Fazioli.

The Britten Sinfonia had divided the concertos with a neatly rhythmical performance of Stravinsky’s Concerto in D, but after the interval they came back with a much bigger assignment. This was Bach’s complete Goldberg Variations in an arrangement for string orchestra by Dmitry Sitkovetsky. Directed from the violin by Thomas Gould, the players showed how focused a tight-knit ensemble like this can be in intricate music, though the string sound was a bit utilitarian even for Bach.

By this point it was 10pm and those who still had the stamina hurried out for the extra free concert in the foyer, part of Southbank Centre’s Ether festival. For this, Gould and a handful of colleagues reassembled to play 13 short new pieces inspired by the Goldberg Variations. This was a merry-go-round of musical styles from John Woolrich’s expressive, Berg-like Calmo to Roger Linley taking Bach for a spin on the club dance floor. Best by far, though, were a couple of the original variations overlaid with a haunting saxophone improvisation by Andy Sheppard – a perfect late-night Bach reverie, as the concert started to drift towards midnight.

The Times, Richard Morrison

Among his other minor accomplishments, Bach was a master at plucking his or other people’s music from one medium and adapting it for something else. And his own music has been adapted more often and more successfully than any other composer’s. Whatever is done to it, it seems, it always retains its essential Bachness.

We experienced Bach as adapter and Bach adapted in this absorbing concert. First came his Keyboard Concerto in F minor, which he based on one of his violin concertos. Angela Hewitt directed it from a modern grand piano — but, with typical thoughtfulness, she based her meticulous articulation on how a violinist might bow the music.

Her preparation was immaculate, her execution crystal-clear, as always. But I wondered, as I also did in Mozart’s Jeunehomme Piano Concerto, K271, if her spick-and-span approach, with no place for unruliness or loose ends, diminishes her as an interpeter. I wish she would impose herself more, both physically to cut through the orchestra, and as a personality. The great puzzle of this Mozart concerto is the startling interruption of the fizzing finale by an elegiac minuet. Brendel, playing his farewell concert, made it sound like an infinitely sad reminiscence of a veiled world. Hewitt gave me neither this impression nor any other: just beautiful notes. I’m not knocking that. But if she made space for darkness and mystery, she would be an even finer pianist.

The Britten Sinfonia offered admirably responsive support, and a taut account of Stravinsky’s Concerto in D, led from the violin by Thomas Gould. But the concert’s most thrilling item was the Bach adaptation: the Goldberg Variations, prised away from clattering harpsichordists and arranged for strings by Dmitri Sitkovetsky.

Purists may sniff that the ingeniously dovetailed string writing clearly isn’t 18th century, or that Sitkovetsky rustles up a far wider dynamic and colouristic range than Bach himself would have managed on a keyboard of his day. So what? With the Britten Sinfonia in stunning form (and the solo quartet of Gould, Miranda Dale, Martin Outram and Caroline Dearnley scampering round the demi-semis), the music came gloriously to life. An hour passed in a blink. Hear it on Radio 3 tonight.

The Sunday Times, Paul Driver

Taken from a longer article:
Britten Sinfonia, led by Thomas Gould, gave and exquisite concert centred on Goldberg’s Variations, in Dmitry Sitkovetsky’s illumination - here quite ecstatic! - arrangement for strings, with before it Bach and Mozart concertos in which the cool-toned, inspired soloist-director was Angela Hewitt. The concert wasn’t part of Ether, but the Sinfoina’s foyer postlude was: a dozen variations on the Goldberg Variations by contemporary composers attuned to electronica and new waves. But Bach himself proved pretty undislodgeable.

The Observer, Stephen Pritchard

...the cool, controlled calm of the Queen Elizabeth Hall when pianist Angela Hewitt is on the platform, though not, last week, in her more familiar role as a solo recitalist but as director of the Britten Sinfonia in scintillating Bach and Mozart keyboard concertos.

She’s such a great communicator that her renowned sense of line found its way through to the players immediately, making the first and second movements of Bach’s keyboard concerto No 5 (BWV 1056) sound like long, delicious single phrases. And no wonder: she is a violinist, too, and explained in the programme that all the articulation she chooses at the piano imitates string bowing. That sense of line appeared again in Mozart’s piano concerto No 9 in E flat major, played with the utmost delicacy and finesse, with her poised and intelligent direction from the keyboard wrapping the whole thing in an elegant sheen.

The Sinfonia’s leader Thomas Gould directed in Stravinsky’s concerto in D for string orchestra, his ravishing exploration of the tonal possibilities of a string ensemble played here with precision and panache, complete with fabulous eerie harmonics from the cellos and double basses. Section principals Miranda Dale, Martin Outram, Caroline Dearnley and Stephen Williams shone in what turned out to be the chief delight of the evening, Bach’s Goldberg Variations, arranged for strings by Dmitry Sitkovetsky. It’s a tightrope walk for the players – one weak link, one muffed entry and the whole thing would fall apart, but in these hands there was never any danger of disaster; a masterclass in ensemble sensibility.

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