Monday 27 July 2015

Rameau - Keyboard Suites - Hewitt


Rating: 5/5

Review:
A real beauty

I think this is a terrific disc. Rameau's music is wonderful - full of energy, melody and variety - and Angela Hewitt does it proud. As others here have noted, Rameau on the piano is a different experience from Rameau on the harpsichord, but for me it is a wonderful experience when the piano is this well played.

As with her magnificent Bach recordings, Hewitt brings a flawless technique, deep scholarship and an obvious love of the music to this disc. She judges tempi and ornamentation perfectly to my ears, giving the music exactly the right feel and she uses the expressive capabilities of the piano to bring out the music's qualities without ever imposing flashy tricks or inappropriate sentiment on it. It is a joy from start to finish and I never tire of listening to it.

I love my wonderful set of Rameau on the harpsichord by Christophe Rousset and this certainly doesn't replace it, but it complements it beautifully. The recorded sound is (as always from Hyperion) excellent and the notes and presentation are very good and I recommend this very warmly - it's a beauty.

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