Some pianists leap to fame with a victory in an international competition or a well-publicized, last-minute substitution for a celebrated keyboard great.
But for others, recognition comes more slowly. They painstakingly build a career, with one success building on another in a steady upward arc.
Canadian-born pianist Angela Hewitt, who presented a pair of solo performances in September and visits here regularly, definitely falls into the latter category.
While connoisseurs have long admired the 49-year-old pianist’s intelligent, refined playing, she only recently hit the publicity jackpot. She was named Gramophone magazine’s artist of the year last year and was featured in a cover story in February.
“It’s very satisfying to know that all the work you’ve put in over the years is being appreciated,” Hewitt said from her London home. “Over the years I’ve built up such a loyal following of friends and fans and supporters, and that really means a lot to me.”
Her tortoise-versus-hare career approach has also helped the pianist avoid the flameout that comes to a sizable number of young artists who catapult to seeming stardom only to be forgotten a few years later.
“My career has been different in many ways,” she said. “You see so many artists now, age 22-23, who are just playing a concert every night and all over the world, and that’s fabulous. But I just feel that the way that I’ve built mine up is perhaps more secure, perhaps better for one’s artistic development, for how you develop as a person.
“I wasn’t a flash in a pan. I’ve had time to develop as an artist, time to think about things, time to let interpretations mature and grow. So, I’m happy it’s had this big crescendo rather than any other way.”
Making her path to fame even harder was her choice to shun the usual crowd favorites by composers such as Johannes Brahms and Sergei Rachmaninoff in favor of baroque repertoire and less-familiar composers, such as Emmanuel Chabrier and Olivier Messiaen.
She is especially noted as a Johann Sebastian Bach specialist, completing in 2005 a massive 11-year project to record all the major keyboard works by the revered 18th-century organist and composer.
Hewitt said she grew up listening to her father play the composer’s works as cathedral organist in her native Ottawa. When she began piano lessons at age 3, her parents made sure Bach was a staple in her musical diet.
“A lot of pianists play the Beethoven and Chopin and Rachmaninoff, and not Bach,” she said. “And, unfortunately, when I go around and give master classes in colleges and music schools, few of them will play me Bach because they aren’t taught it a lot, they don’t know what to do with it, and there is nothing more difficult, so they are scared of it.
“That’s a shame, because it really does give you a grounding in everything you need to know about playing the keyboard.”
Hewitt has performed twice in Denver’s Friends of Chamber Music series, including a 2003 appearance when she substituted for John Browning, who died earlier in the season. For this visit, she will perform the complete version of “The Well-Tempered Clavier,” two sets of 24 preludes and fugues by Bach dated 1722 and 1744 respectively.
The collection, which demonstrates the full range of fugal writing and showcases late baroque style, requires about 4 1/2 hours to perform and will be divided into two concerts.
Hewitt’s Denver presentation is part of a 14-month world tour during which she will present the monumental work in about 40 cities, ranging from Oslo, Norway, to Bogota, Colombia, to Tokyo.
The project was conceived several years ago when an Italian presenter approached the pianist’s agent about the prospect of her performing the complete work. Because it requires such intense preparation, she wanted to undertake it only if other presenters could be found.
Despite the work’s relative obscurity, at least with the general public, her agents had little trouble landing engagements. Indeed, the very rarity of performances of the piece proved to be a major selling point, not to mention Hewitt’s stellar reputation as a Bach interpreter.
“It’s not something that’s presented so often,” she said. “How many people play the complete ‘Well-Tempered Clavier’? Very few. A lot of promoters did want to have that and knew that it would be a unique experience for their audiences.”
Hewitt expects her take on the work will subtly change during the duration of the tour. It has already evolved dramatically from the way she played it when she recorded it 10 years ago – an album that has been reissued in a special limited edition.
“That recording won a lot of awards, and I’m still very happy with it in many ways, but I know I have come a long way in 10 years and that I can do better now,” she said.
She believes her coloring and phrasing are more sophisticated, with a wider range of emotions. Because of these changes, she plans to make a new recording of the work around May, using the high-fidelity Super Audio CD format.
Hewitt performed the first few set performances of “The Well-Tempered Clavier” beginning in August in Oslo, and she is eager to proceed into the heart of the tour.
“First of all,” she said, “I think it will be a marvelous experience to live with the ‘Well-Tempered’ for so long and so intimately and so thoroughly.
“And, also, there is no greater music, so to share it with people around the world, for many of whom it will be a first and a unique experience in their lives, that will great.”
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.
New 3-suite CD sparkles
“Rameau Keyboard Suites,” Angela Hewitt, pianist, Hyperion
Released earlier this year, this collection of three keyboard suites by baroque composer Jean- Philippe Rameau offers a stunning example of the Canadian pianist’s impeccable technique and eagerness to tackle often less-than-mainstream repertoire.
A frequent interpreter of French works, she demonstrates an unusual affinity for the sometimes elusive character of the country’s music, performing these deceptively challenging 18th-century gems with obvious insight, sparkling clarity and a wonderful sense of esprit.
Because Rameau wrote these suites for harpsichord, Hewitt’s decision to perform them on a contemporary piano has generated some debate among purists. But the translucent sound she draws from the instrument, her adroitly rendered ornamentation and the sheer musicality of her playing quickly render such concerns moot.
High points include her snappy, keenly articulated take on “La poule,” with its playful evocation of a clucking hen, and a delicately reflective version of the “L’enharmonique” – both pieces in the Suite in G minor. Also notable is her zestful, brilliantly realized playing in the intricate opening pieces of the Suite in A minor.
-Kyle MacMillan
Angela Hewitt
CLASSICAL MUSIC | Friends of Chamber Music present pianist Angela Hewitt performing Johann Sebastian Bach’s “The Well-Tempered Clavier,” University of Denver, Newman Center for the Performing Arts, 2344 E. Iliff Ave.; Book I: 4 p.m. Sept. 30, Book II: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 3 | Sept. 30, $30; Oct. 3, SOLD OUT | 303-388-9839 or
