6/3/2006
Angela Hewitt Plays Chabrier
Piano Music by Emmanuel Chabrier
Angela Hewitt
Hyperion
Having taken a mere ten years to hammer her way through the entire piano oeuvre of Bach, the formiable Angela Hewitt has now taken on the French impressionists with her usual quirky, yet strangely compelling, flair. Poulenc said of Chabrier's Dix pieces pittoresques that they were “as important for French music as the preludes of Debussy” and Hewitt makes a persuasive case that Francis wasn't just whistling La Marseillaise. All of the pieces here are highly atmospheric and charming; their "Spanish" rhythms sound as they were filtered through the ears of a Frenchman on holiday which, of course, they were. "Impressions" is exactly the right word for these delightful short pieces. Chabrier's work relates to that of Dubussy and Ravel rather like Cezanne's relatively crude early paintings compare to the more sophisticated works of Manet and Monet. They are precursors but they also have a power that is uniquely their own.
Piano Music by Emmanuel ChabrierAngela Hewitt
Hyperion
Having taken a mere ten years to hammer her way through the entire piano oeuvre of Bach, the formiable Angela Hewitt has now taken on the French impressionists with her usual quirky, yet strangely compelling, flair. Poulenc said of Chabrier's Dix pieces pittoresques that they were “as important for French music as the preludes of Debussy” and Hewitt makes a persuasive case that Francis wasn't just whistling La Marseillaise. All of the pieces here are highly atmospheric and charming; their "Spanish" rhythms sound as they were filtered through the ears of a Frenchman on holiday which, of course, they were. "Impressions" is exactly the right word for these delightful short pieces. Chabrier's work relates to that of Dubussy and Ravel rather like Cezanne's relatively crude early paintings compare to the more sophisticated works of Manet and Monet. They are precursors but they also have a power that is uniquely their own.
Jerry Bowles is founder and editor of Sequenza 21, the contemporary classical
music web portal which won the ASCAP Deems Taylor Internet Award in 2005.
music web portal which won the ASCAP Deems Taylor Internet Award in 2005.
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