Limelight — May 2017

16 LIMELIGHT MAY 2017 http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au

OKEYNOTES

Five questions for...

ANGELA HEWITT PIANIST

1.Where did your musical inspiration come

fromwhenyouwereachild?

Musicwaspartofthelanguageathome.With

Bach,myfatherplayeditandmymotherplayed

it,soitseemedthenormalthingtodo.ButI

didsomanyotherthingsasakid.Idid20years

ofclassicalballet,whichIabsolutelyloved.I

playedtheviolin,Iplayedtherecorder,Isang,I

didhighlanddancing,Ididgymnastics.Ididso

manythings,andI'mreallyhappyIdid,because

it'ssoimportanttohavearoundedchildhood.

2.Last year you embarked on a four-year Bach

‘Odyssey’.Whatmadeyoucommittoallthat?

I've spent hours in Bach's presence, and the

messageyouhavetogetacrossisthejoyhis

musicbrings,thebeautyandconstruction,

the comfort and expression. It’s wonderful

torevisitpiecesIhaven'tplayedasmuch.The

earlyCapriccioinEMajorIhadn'tplayedin

15years.It'satremendouspiece.AndI'llbe

playing the SixthPartitaagain this summer.

3.InAustraliayou’llalsobeplayingScarlatti.

Is he fun, or is he a bit of a technical nightmare?

Scarlattiisfunifyoucanmanagethenotes.

Youhavetopractiseit,butalso–andmost

importantly – inject life into it. The more I

read about Scarlatti the more I realise we know

hardly anything about him. He was totally

differentfromBach–notascerebral,but

incredibly intelligent. And he can delight in

breakingtherules.Bachdidtooofcourse, but

Scarlatti'smusicismuchlessrigorous.

4.You've always played a lot of French music.

How did the attraction start?

ItwasreallymeetingmyteacherJean-Paul

SévillaonasummercourseinAix-en-Provence

in1973.Ottawatookagroupofstudentsover

for six weeks. We had lessons everyday and on

the weekend we went to the beach. We were

taughtaboutart,weweretaughtaboutfood.

It wasn't just learning notes, it was a real life

education. Jean-Paul also invited musicians to

come to teach and perform for us. There was

asinger,MadamPerugia,whowasamazing.

Shewasabout100atthetime,buttohave

somebodyintheroomwhohadknownFauré...

5.How important to you is communication for

making your audience feel comfortable?

First of all, it's important to play well –

withoutthatyoucan'tdoanything–butalso

to communicate with your audience, looking

around at them or whatever. If you do a pre-

TOPOFTHE

LIMELIGHT CHART

concert talk, give them your views on the

music, what's important for them to listen

to. After every concert, I sign CDs. When

people write fan messages on my website,

Ianswer.WhentheyorderCDs,theygetan

answer from me, which really shocks them.

I'mveryhandson,butIdothinkitmakesa

huge difference. That's why people turn out

tohearyoutimeandtimeagain.

Angela Hewitt is on tour with Musica Viva

across Australia from May 8 – 27

“I thought your do re mi would include a female deer”John Mercer, Doubleview, WA

CAPTION COMPETITION:LAST MONTH’S WINNER FOR THIS

MONTH’S

COMPETITION

TURN TO

PAG E 113

Red Violincomposer John Corigliano enjoys a beer with a South African eland

UNSENT LOVE LETTERS

Tamara-Anna Cislowskap

Elena Kats-Chernin’s

new ABC Classics CD is a

personal tribute to the

unsent love letters of

eccentric composer Erik

Satie,andplayedbypianist

Tamara-Anna Cislowska.

See the full chart on p