Bach Performance on the Piano (A Lecture-Rectial by Angela Hewitt) & Angela Hewitt Live in Concert - 2008

Hyperion produced this two-disc DVD set as part of Miss Hewitt's 07/08 Bach World Tour (bachworldtour). It is shot on location at the Fazioli piano factory in Italy (Hewitt highly favors these pianos). Even if you are purely a listener, this nicely done production will take you to a new depth of discovery and appreciation into the legendary music of Bach and Angela Hewitt.
        Disc 1 (148 min) is instructional with Hewitt demonstrating various techniques, strategies and advice in 7 chapters (see list below). I suppose it is something akin to her Bach master's classes. She uses numerous musical motiff examples from the WTC and much of Bach's keyboard repertoire to show what she means. These alone are endlessly fascinating to watch the pianist's ease, fluidity and nuance. She often compares to how an amatuer would play it ... and of course how the she would approach it. One is immediately impressed with Hewitt's love and discipline with this music. She is also a great educator, weaving both technical detail and personal stories in the lessons. The camera work is quite good, showing at a slight angle from the right the keyboard work of both hands up close. Up this close, you can see just how strong her steel-spring-like fingers are for playing Bach like she does! Of course she makes it look effortlessly.
          Disc 2 (62 minutes) is a live performance at the Fazioli factory auditorium - where of course she plays an absolutely gorgeous Fazioli Concert Grand. These pianos are noted for their super-fast action, complex yet brilliant and clear harmonics and the addition of a special, forth pedal for enhanced dynamic shading. Of course she makes Bach sing and sound beautiful on it. The camera work again is good allowing one to see most of the action unhindered, although at times of sections of fast passagework (like in the chromatic fantasy/fugue) the camera is more on the pianist than the keyboard. The sound is rich and full as is her playing, making for an impressive concert.
                                           Bach Performance on the Piano MKV  1 GB

Subtitles: English, Deutsch, Francais, Italiano, Espanol, Japanese, Chinese, Russian

Audio AC-3 - 16 bits 48.0 KHz, 2 channels, 192 Kbps

Angela Hewitt Live in Concert 500 MB

Audio FLAC - 16 bits 48.0 KHz, 2 channels, 600 kbps

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A small missed opportunity perhaps was not getting a 'virtual tour' of how they make pianos at the Fazioli factory, whose instruments in various stages of assembly are in the background during the shoot. Side bar: for piano afficiantos, there is a marvelous little chapter about the Fazioli factory in the charming memoir, "The Piano Shop on the Left Bank" by Thad Carhart.

DISC 1

Chapter 1: Introduction
- Early beginnings
- Bach on the modern piano

Chapter 2: The Essentials
- Phrasing
- Singing tone
- Articulation
- Imitating bowing
- Gamba sonata with D. Muller-Schott
- Fingering
- The left hand
- Pedalling

Chapter 3: Intrepretation
- Tempo
- Dynamics
- Rythymic alterations
- Rubato
- Keys

Chapter 4: The Dance in Bach
- Dance in Bach's music
- Dance and tempo

Chapter 5: Learning a Fugue
- Articulation
- Fingering
- Intrepretation

Chapter 6: Ornamentation
- Basic rules
- Adding ornaments

Chapter 7: Practical Advice
- Editions
- Practicing
- Memorizing
- Performing

DISC 2 - CONCERT PERFORMANCE
1. Partita No. 4 in D major
2. Italian Concerto in F major
3. Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue in D minor