Angela Hewitt is the reigning Bach queen of our time. On her world tour a few seasons back, she presented all 48 preludes and fugues of the Well-Tempered Clavier in one concert, in 58 cities, on six continents. She has recorded all of J.S. Bach's keyboard works, and in October 2012 Hewitt played the Goldberg Variations and The Art of the Fugue in the same evening at Le Poisson Rouge, a club in New York City. That night, hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on the city but didn't stop patrons from coming to the performance.
Bach isn't her only love. Angela Hewitt's numerous CDs range through five centuries of music, from Francois Couperin to Olivier Messiaen. She also conducts from the piano, and since 2005 she has run the Trasimeno Music Festival in Umbria, Italy.
Hewitt was born in Ottawa into a musical family. She studied violin and recorder as well as piano, and considered a career in ballet. In view of her international success the mayor of Ottawa declared an Angela Hewitt Week in the spring of 2012. The festivities included a display of her concert gowns.
On her second program as host of This Is My Music, Hewitt talks about her experiences abroad and on the road. The show airs Saturday, Feb. 23 on CBC Radio 2, 10:05 a.m. to noon in most of the country, 11:05 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in Atlantic Canada.
Related:
Classical Juno nominees include James Ehnes and Angela Hewitt
Angela Hewitt Week declared by Ottawa mayor Jim Watson
posted by
hele montagna
on Feb 21, 2013