Celebrated pianist Angela Hewitt returns to Portland Piano International with two concerts, February 5 and 6
Angela Hewitt. Credit: James Katz.
PORTLAND, OR – Angela Hewitt, universally recognized as one of the world’s greatest pianists and artistic treasures, returns to Portland for two back-to-back concerts presented by Portland Piano International (PPI) at Lincoln Performance Hall, Portland State University, on February 5 and 6, 2022.
Ms. Hewitt is PPI’s Guest Artistic Curator for the 21/22 season, a role held by a globally renowned pianist each concert season. Her interpretations of the music of J.S. Bach has established her as one of the composer’s foremost interpreters of our time.
She was a prizewinner in numerous piano competitions in Europe, Canada, and the USA, but it was her triumph in the 1985 Toronto International Bach Piano Competition, held in memory of Glenn Gould, that truly launched her international career.
Angela’s award-winning cycle for Hyperion Records of all the major keyboard works of Bach has been described as “one of the record glories of our age” (The Sunday Times). Begun in 1994, it culminated with her much-awaited recording of Bach’s Art of Fugue in 2014. Her extensive discography also includes solo recordings of Scarlatti, Handel, Couperin, Rameau, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Fauré, Debussy, Chabrier, Ravel, Granados and Messiaen.
The final CD in Angela’s complete cycle of Beethoven Sonatas (Op. 106 and Op. 111) will be released in 2022. A regular in the USA Billboard chart, her new album Love Songs hit the top of the specialist classical chart in the UK and stayed there for months after its release. In 2015, Angela was inducted into Gramophone Magazine’s “Hall of Fame”, reflecting her popularity with music lovers around the world.
Her two programs for Portland Piano International are as follows.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5 AT 4 PM
Lincoln Performance Hall, Portland State University
FRANÇOIS COUPERIN 18ème Ordre from the Third Book of Pièces de Clavecin
OLIVIER MESSIAEN Preludes (1929)
1. La colombe (The Dove)
3. Le nombre léger (The Light Number)
4. Instants defunds (Dead Instants)
5. Les sons impalpables du rêve (The Impalpable Sounds of a Dream)
7. Plainte calme (Calm plea)
8. Un reflect dans le vent (A Reflection in the Wind)
BRAHMS Sonata No. 3 in F Minor, op. 5
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6 AT 4 PM
Lincoln Performance Hall, Portland State University
DOMENICO SCARLATTI
Sonata in D Major, Kk 430
Sonata in B Minor, Kk 87
Sonata in G Major, Kk 427
Sonata in A Major, Kk 429
Sonata in F Major, Kk 82
BACH
Four Preludes and Fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II: Nos. 13 – 16, BWV 882-885
Four Duets, BWV 802-805
English Suite No. 4 in F Major, BWV 809
Passacaglia in C Minor, BWV 582 (arr. d’Albert)
PPI’s 2021 / 2022 season brings some favorite returning guest artists and some brand-new faces. Upcoming concerts this season include the following:
Angela Hewitt (February 5 & 6)
Janina Fialkowska (March 12 & 13)
Nicolas Namoradze (April 2 & 3)
Paul Lewis (May 7 & 8)
Jon Kimura Parker (June 4 & 5)
This season is informally known as the “Canadian-American Friendship Season” because the guest curator, two other main series artists (Janina Fialkowska and Jon Kimura Parker), and three of PPI’s Rising Stars (Jean-Luc Therrien, Linda Ruan, and Charissa Vandikas) are Canadian.
Bestowed with Canada's highest civilian honor, Companion of Canada, Angela Hewitt states:
“Portland is a city that has always meant a lot to me, ever since I first arrived here in the early 1990s. Your warmth as music lovers, and your willingness to listen and learn is right up there with the best! Even just the fact that each pianist who comes to PPI is asked to play two different programmes on consecutive days shows how serious you are — and indeed is a challenge to the performer.”
Tickets are available now at portlandpiano.org, where other details may be found including the complete season, programs, and subscription options.
All concerts occur at Lincoln Performance Hall, Portland State University. For COVID-19 protocols, please refer to this link. portlandpiano.org/covid-guidelines
###
MEDIA CONTACT: Jonathan Eifert, 347.741.1913
jonathan.eifert@goldsoundmedia.com
HIGH-RES PHOTOS [Download]
PORTLAND PIANO INTERNATIONAL has presented more than 180 artists in recital and through outreach activities. Some of the greatest pianists in the world of music have played for Portland audiences because of this organization. While pianists have many opportunities to play the concerto repertoire, this is one of only a handful of recital series that remains devoted to the solo piano recital. Portland Piano International is a vital part of Portland’s quality cultural life and it has consistently garnered praise from both the local and national media, heralded a “consistently brilliant Piano Recital Series” (Willamette Week) and “one of this city’s musical treasures” (The Oregonian).