Bach Das Wohltemperirte Clavier, Bk 2

Record and Artist Details

Composer or Director: Johann Sebastian Bach

Genre:

Instrumental

Label: Hyperion

Media Format: CD or Download

Media Runtime: 148

Mastering:

DDD

Catalogue Number: CDA67303/4

Tracks:

Composition Artist Credit
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: C sharp minor, BWV873 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: D, BWV874 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: D minor, BWV875 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: E flat, BWV876 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: D sharp minor, BWV877 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: E, BWV878 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: E minor, BWV879 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: F, BWV880 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: F minor, BWV881 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: F sharp, BWV882 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: F sharp minor, BWV883 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: G, BWV884 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: G minor, BWV885 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: A flat, BWV886 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: G sharp minor, BWV887 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: A, BWV888 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: A minor, BWV889 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: B flat, BWV890 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: B flat minor, BWV891 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: B, BWV892 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: B minor, BWV893 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: C, BWV870 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: C minor, BWV871 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
(Das) Wohltemperierte Klavier, '(The) Well-Tempered Clavier, Movement: C sharp, BWV872 Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
Angela Hewitt, Piano
Johann Sebastian Bach, Composer
For those prepared to put aside the tonal monochrome of harpsichord performance, historically justified though it may be, Angela Hewitt’s Book 2 of the 48 (Book 1 was reviewed in 10/98) is a delight to both ear and mind. Not that there is anything in the least Technicolored about her interpretations – everything is in the best of taste and free from all exhibitionism – but they are conceived in consciously pianistic terms. There are subtle tonal nuances, natural rises and falls of dynamics, well-defined differentiation of contrapuntal lines and an appreciation of the expressive implications of Bach’s chromaticisms.
All this is at once apparent in the very first C major Prelude, which is also sensitively phrased with flexibility; but it is when she comes to the Fugue – light, airy and positively playful – that her vitality and freshness of approach are so striking. Throughout her playing of these preludes and fugues – several longer, more mature and more demanding than those of Book 1 – there is a sense of unhurried poise, with rhythm that flows; the air of tranquillity she can produce is underlined by her frequent adoption of very quiet openings (good examples are the C minor and C sharp major and minor Preludes), many of which then take on a warmer tone towards the end. Even the E major Fugue, which Landowska labelled ‘combative’, is handled quietly, but she is able to sound contemplative (as in the E major Fugue) without lapsing into Tureckian reverentiality (Brunswick (3/55 – nla); and when brio is called for, as in the C sharp or F major Gigue Fugues, this is buoyantly forthcoming; the F minor and B minor Fugues receive a lively dance spirit, and she throws herself with abandon into the wildness of the A minor Fugue. Her varied articulation maintains the interest at all times (notice how interestingly she rings the changes on both it and her accentuations and dynamics on repeats), and the springiness she brings to the E flat and F sharp minor Fugues is most engaging. In strongly dramatizing the G minor Prelude she raises some questions (as also in the D major Prelude) of rhythmic assimilation; and she is not above adding reinforcing bass octaves to the G minor’s Fugue.
Just occasionally Bach’s more intense movements, such as the D sharp minor Fugue and the beautiful F sharp minor Prelude, tempt her into emotional rubatos which, though musically affecting, take Bach out of his century, and I don’t care for the big allargandos she makes at the ends of some of the earlier movements; but otherwise I have nothing but enthusiasm for Angela Hewitt’s musicianly and imaginative performances.'

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