Although Angela Hewitt has been living in Europe for the past 40 years, the renowned classical pianist said it’s still meaningful for her to return to perform in her native Canada.
Hewitt, who hails from Ottawa, is coming to Nanaimo to lead a master class at Vancouver Island University on Saturday (Oct. 7) and to perform at the Port Theatre the following evening. It’s the only Canadian West Coast date of her current tour.
“It’s great, always, to perform in Canada, and even though I have lived in Europe all those years I still feel very much at home in Canada and it’s great to go all over the country,” Hewitt said.
“I have friends coming up from Victoria, I have them coming from other places on the Island as well and people I haven’t seen for years have written… I always get great audiences in Canada, it’s very heart-warming to me.”
At VIU she will observe a series of students perform selected works, then give constructive feedback. She said the class will give those in attendance a sense of “what is important to me in an interpretation. What are the points that I look for, how I go about performing something and taking the musical decisions that have to be taken.”
The next night Hewitt will be the one in the spotlight making those decisions as she tackles the music of Bach, Beethoven, Scarlatti, Ravel and Chabrier.
Recently Hewitt has been exploring the works of Italian baroque composer Domenico Scarlatti. Available at the concert will be copies of Hewitt’s latest album, Scarlatti: Sonatas, Vol. 2. She said Scarlatti’s work was worth revisiting because the composer is known for writing 555 keyboard sonatas, meaning there is a vast trove of music to be explored.
“I can make many more Scarlatti albums in the future, all with different music,” she said.
“It’s wonderful stuff and it’s not played all that often and [there are] many pieces that people won’t know that are worth discovering.”
Hewitt has also be rediscovering the composer with whom she is most associated, Johann Sebastian Bach. Last year she embarked on a project to perform all of Bach’s major keyboard compositions by 2020. Her ‘Bach Odyssey’ is familiar territory, as she recorded those works from 1994 and 2005, but she added that there are some pieces that she hasn’t played in more than 15 years.
And while she’s been playing his music all her life, Hewitt said she still finds it gratifying and stimulating to bring his work to a concert audience.
“There isn’t a note of Bach that isn’t interesting and moving and worthwhile,” she said. “It’s still immensely challenging because it’s such complicated music so I have to rework it every time and every time I find something new … I’m never blasé, I never take anything for granted. It’s like a fresh performance every time.”
WHAT’S ON … Angela Hewitt performs at the Port Theatre on Sunday (Oct. 8) at 3 p.m. $48 general admission, $30 for students, $38 each for groups of 10 or more, $5 for high school students. Tickets for Oct. 7 master class at Victoria Island University are available through the Nanaimo Conservatory of Music.