Italian Concerto, BWV 971 – Toccata, BWV 911 – Duets, BWV 802-805 – English Suite, BWV 811

Born in Canada, but long resident in the UK, Angela Hewitt built her reputation on playing the keyboard music of J.S. Bach. This recording, her very first, was part of her prize for winning the 1985 Toronto International Bach Piano Competition, and it gives a fascinating glimpse of a wonderful musician at the start of her career. Her performance of the Italian Concerto has great energy, with each contrapuntal line tastefully highlighted, while the melody of the hypnotic slow movement soars above the accompaniment. The English Suite No. 6 possesses a stateliness and grace that would go on to inform much of her future Bach playing. This is a fascinating document of Hewitt’s extraordinary relationship with the great Baroque composer.