Gifted Hewitt leads the precision and finesse

Vienna Tonkunstler Orchestra, St David’s Hall, Cardiff

A couple of Canadian friends never tire of telling me how great their country is. Everything from maple syrup to a band called Blue Rodeo is cited as an example of Canada’s creativity.

They have yet to mention Angela Hewitt. They should. Ms Hewitt is probably the best known and most gifted pianist Canada has produced since the late, great Glenn Gould. Her performance in this concert underlined her stature as a great musical ambassador for her country.

Ms Hewitt displays none of Mr Gould’s famed eccentricities at the piano. Mercifully, she does not hum along to the music which was one of Mr Gould’s more annoying affectations.

However, Ms Hewitt shares with Mr Gould a profound understanding of, and affection for, the music of Bach and Beethoven.

The complexities of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.4 and the deep questions it poses were examined with an almost forensic attention to detail by Ms Hewitt. Of course, the mysteries of this music can never be fully explained, but it was fascinating for the near-capacity audience to explore them in the company of such an accomplished musician.

The clear understanding between Ms Hewitt and conductor Yutaka Sado played a vital role in the success of this performance. The Vienna Tonkunstler Orchestra is famed for its precision and finesse. Those qualities were abundantly clear in this performance, as was the love the players have for the music. They play from the heart.

Ms Hewitt’s interpretation was perhaps not the most emotionally captivating that one has heard, but it certainly was intense and intellectually stimulating. The concert opened with an elegant and subtle performance of Mendelssohn’s Overture, The Hebrides. Its shifting moods were explored in a beautifully crafted interpretation.

Mr Sado is a protégé of Bernstein. This was evident in his expansive and emotionally-charged conducting of the orchestra in this thoroughly captivating performance of Dvorak’s ninth symphony, From the New World. He brought the best out of this world-class orchestra.

Peter Collins