J.S. Bach
Toccata in D major, BWV912
French Suite no.5 in G major, BWV816
Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue in d minor, BWV903
Interval
Partita no.5 in G major, BWV829
Italian Concerto in F major, BWV971
Prelude and Fugue in A minor, BWV894

As a child Angela Hewitt listened to her organist father play Bach in Ottawa Cathedral; her career was launched in 1985 when she won first prize at Toronto International Bach Competition; in 2022 she completed her Bach Odyssey, a project to perform all J.S. Bach’s keyboard works in major venues around the world. It is a treat to have her present a complete J.S. Bach concert for us.

The programme starts with Bach in his twenties, composing improvisatory toccatas at the court in Weimar. Next, we catch him in Köthen, aged thirty and writing the French suites as teaching aids. Then on to Leipzig where, at fifty, he brilliantly reimagines an Italian Concerto for the keyboard.

At this point chronology is thrown to the wind. Prelude and Fugue in A minor is the work of a fiery young Bach, eager to show off his virtuosity as a performer. The gigue fugue in perpetual motion never once lets up – an electrifying end to this concert.

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