January 07, 2005 -

Ottawa (Canada) -- Ottawa’s own Angela Hewitt, considered to be the leading Bach specialist of her generation, performs Bach’s Goldberg Variations at the National Arts Centre on the first recital of the Bombardier Great Performers series on Tuesday, January 18 at 20:00 in the NAC’s Southam Hall. Hewitt will introduce the piece herself from the stage before performing it without intermission.

Pianist Angela Hewitt has established herself at the highest level over the last few years, not least through her superb, award-winning recordings for Hyperion.  Her ten-year project to record all the major keyboard works of Bach has been described as “one of the record glories of our age” and has won her a huge following. She has been hailed as “the pre-eminent Bach pianist of our time” (The Guardian) and “nothing less than the pianist who will define Bach performance on the piano for years to come”. Angela Hewitt has performed throughout North America, Europe, as well as Japan, Australia, China, Mexico and Russia. Last season she gave four concerts in major London halls, all of which sold out months in advance.  Angela Hewitt was awarded the first ever BBC Radio 3 Listener’s Award (Royal Philharmonic Society Awards) in 2003.

A golden goblet containing one hundred louis d'or: this was the fee that an appreciate Count Hermann Carl von Keyserling is said to have sent to Bach on completion of his “Aria with various transformations to be played on a keyboard instrument having two manuals”.  According to Bach’s early biographer Forkel, the Count had requested some music “of a gentle and somewhat lively character” to be performed for him by his personal musician Johann Theophilus Goldberg, only 15 years old at the time, and one of Bach’s star pupils. According to the story,  the Count had requested it as a cure for insomnia! For the task, Bach turned to the theme-and-variations form, a form used by countless composers, but rarely by Bach.

As if to make up for a lifetime of neglect of this form, Bach poured every ounce of his superb creative genius into these variations, written in 1742 at the age of fifty-seven.  One can only stand back in astonishment at its vast scope, intellectual power and spiritual fulfillment.

Critical response to Angela Hewitt’s Goldberg Variations recording:

“It is a remarkable achievement, arguably the best to appear on disc since Glenn Gould’s second celebrated recording from 1981 ... [It] is the sheer technical command of her playing, coupled with such elegantly supple musicianship, that makes the performance so compelling ... Everything is right, everything is natural – this is Bach on the piano of the highest quality imaginable.” (The Guardian)

“The resulting record is a miracle of music-making at its most instinctive and spontaneous. Even by Hewitt’s exalted standards it is extraordinary…  If you only buy one Bach album in this anniversary year, let it be this one. A desert-island disc!” (The Sunday Times)

“Outstanding...Hewitt’s disc, exquisite artistry commingling with infectious exhilaration gives me the most pleasure.” (BBC Music Magazine)

“Beautifully co-ordinated Bach playing, with all voices colourfully defined and spontaneity as a constant virtue. In my view, she has never made a better CD. Strongly recommended.” (Gramophone)

“This is as fine a version of Bach’s inventive Goldberg Variations as there is.” (The Express)

“Hewitt is one of the very finest Bach interpreters around. She possesses all the mechanical skills needed to master the difficulties facing the soloist, but never loses sight of the humanity that is evident in every note ... Playing of the highest order, and one of the finest recordings of this work you’re ever likely to hear” (The Scotsman)

Tickets for this Bombardier Great Performers recital featuring Angela Hewitt on January 18 are on sale now at $25, $40, 42, $50 and 52, with box seats at $63 (GST and Facility Fee included) at the NAC Box Office (Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 21:00), and through Ticketmaster (with surcharges) at 613-755-1111.  Ticketmaster may also be accessed through the NAC’s web-site at www.nac-cna.ca.  Half-price tickets for students in all sections of the hall are on sale in person at the NAC Box Office upon presentation of a valid student ID card.

Subscriptions for the series of four Bombardier Great Performers recitals are also still available by calling the Subscription Office at 613-947-7000, ext. 620.

For more information please contact:
Jane Morris, Marketing and Communications
Officer, National Arts Centre Orchestra
(613) 947-7000, ext. 335
jmorris@nac-cna.ca