# Schiff vs Hewitt Bach recordings...



## Itullian (Aug 27, 2011)

What are your thoughts?
Thanks :tiphat:


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Hewitt's a class act, and I find her playing highly enjoyable. I do prefer her to Schiff/Decca where he seems mannered and somewhat uninvolved. However, I prefer Schiff/ECM to Hewitt; on ECM the mannerisms are at a minimum and Schiff digs into the vibrancy of Bach's music.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

I prefer Schiff's ECM recordings, in general, they are among my favorite Bach recordings. I've not heard most of Hewitt's since they are on Hyperion and not available to stream. From what I've heard, her approach is more "Romantic" than Schiff's. But I enjoy Maria Tipo, and the same can be said about her performances. 

To answer the question of this thread: Schiff/ECM.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

I have heard very little of Hewitt and Schiff (Decca) but I'd say that Tipo is considerably more "romantic" than either. 

Of "modern" recordings (they are from the 80s/90s, I think) Tipo is probably the most "romantic", if one likes this approach as alternative, it is certainly worth trying. If one can find the 5-CD-box on EMI Tipo (Partitas, Goldbergs, Italian concerto, shorter works and Busoni arrangements of organ works) is also quite cheap.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Kreisler jr said:


> I have heard very little of Hewitt and Schiff (Decca) but I'd say that Tipo is considerably more "romantic" than either.


I agree. She brings Bach to the romantic heartland.


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

I have recordings of Bach by all three. All good and I’m happy to listen to all of them plus the myriad other pianists I have performing Bach. They each bring something different to the party.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Bulldog said:


> heartland.


Is this an American word? I've never seen it before. What's a heartland?


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Mandryka said:


> Is this an American word? I've never seen it before. What's a heartland?


It's likely American - means "central area".


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Bulldog said:


> It's likely American - means "central area".


Ah yes, maybe I recognise it now (I mean, now that I'm a bit more so sobre after drinking half a bottle of wine with lunch.)

As far as Schiff and Hewitt are concerned, I have nothing interesting to say.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

Bulldog said:


> It's likely American - means "central area".


Yes, in a John Cougar Mellencamp sort of way.


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## JohnP (May 27, 2014)

Bulldog said:


> Hewitt's a class act, and I find her playing highly enjoyable. I do prefer her to Schiff/Decca where he seems mannered and somewhat uninvolved. However, I prefer Schiff/ECM to Hewitt; on ECM the mannerisms are at a minimum and Schiff digs into the vibrancy of Bach's music.


I agree completely. For all his immersion in Bach and his reputation as a Bach player, I think Schiff is finnicky. I heard him in person, and his mannerisms made me very nervous--not the effect Bach's music should have. He's no better in Beethoven, either.

Since Tipo has been mentioned, I'll throw in Goode, Perahia, Fellner, and Sheppard. All of them play Bach better than Schiff does, IMO. Rana is on the way with a terrific Goldberg Variations. I'll pass on Levit.


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## Axiomatic (Sep 13, 2020)

Just an aside to defend "heartland" as a good English word rather than simply an Americanism. _Oxford English Dictionary_ (www.oed.com) lists several senses, and I can't say which Bulldog intended, though one might make a case for the third (earliest citation 1944): "a region which is especially important to or associated with a particular activity, organization, or ideology."

This is an extended sense of a usage credited to Sir Halford Mackinder (1861-1947), which Bulldog could be applying metaphorically: "The inner part of a country, region, or area, esp. in contrast to coastal areas or when regarded as important or powerful."

As OED notes, in some contexts Mackinder's term has come to refer more narrowly to "The central states of the United States, esp. regarded as representing traditional social attitudes and moderately conservative politics…Frequently attributive, as heartland America, heartland values, etc."-what we might call the Mellencamp sense. (Probably not what Bulldog had in mind.)

Carry on!


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Axiomatic said:


> Just an aside to defend "heartland" as a good English word rather than simply an Americanism. _Oxford English Dictionary_ (www.oed.com) lists several senses, and I can't say which Bulldog intended, though one might make a case for the third (earliest citation 1944): "a region which is especially important to or associated with a particular activity, organization, or ideology."
> 
> This is an extended sense of a usage credited to Sir Halford Mackinder (1861-1947), which Bulldog could be applying metaphorically: "The inner part of a country, region, or area, esp. in contrast to coastal areas or when regarded as important or powerful."
> 
> ...


It appears pretty frequently in U.S. political speech or political journalism.


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## Jen L (Sep 1, 2021)

I’d rather hear Perahia play Bach than either Schiff or Hewitt; he just seems to get to the heart of the music. But I’ll always have a soft spot for Joanna Macgregor’s recording of the French Suites.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Jen L said:


> I'd rather hear Perahia play Bach than either Schiff or Hewitt; he just seems to get to the heart of the music.


I'm the opposite, feeling that Perahia gets to the heart of nothing except himself.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

Has this now turned into any somewhat contemporary pianist playing Bach on the modern piano? 

I haven't heard Schiff/ECM. I like Schiff as person from his lectures and I like some of his 1980s-90s recordings of Haydn and Mozart (both solo and chamber/concertos) quite a bit. However, I found his lectures on Beethoven sonatas considerably more interesting than his playing on the two expensive discs from his (then still ongoing) Beethoven series, so I did not buy any others (and this made me hesitant about the ECM Bach).

Perahia to me seems mostly "safe" but with a danger of blandness (but what I have heard of his Bach, English suites and partitas, I found much better than his famous 1980s Mozart concerti).

Sheppard is certainly underrated, I think he is the most "modern", straightforward, clear, energetic, unmannered of the ones mentioned above. 

Koroliov is also one to be considered, not the most energy, but beautiful and thoughtful.

Shepkin was regarded highly by some 15 years ago or so and I have a few of his recordings but I would have to re-listen to them to comment.


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## wkasimer (Jun 5, 2017)

Kreisler jr said:


> Schepkin was regarded highly by some 15 years ago or so and I have a few of his recordings but I would have to re-listen to them to comment.


I've heard him in concert a couple of times, and he's a very impressive pianist in a wide range of repertoire, not just Bach. His more recent recordings - French Suites, and second recordings of the Partitas and the Goldberg Variations - are superb.


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## Kreisler jr (Apr 21, 2021)

The first batch of Schepkin's Bach recordings was already 1995-2000 when he was in his mid-thirties, the second recording of the GBV stems from 2010, the French suites from 2014.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Schepkin


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

I like both Schiff and Hewitt. Schiff's recordings on ECM are hard to beat though, those get my vote. 

I'm also in agreement with comments earlier in the thread regarding Rana's Bach, what I've heard from her so far sounds great and I hope she records more.


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## Marc (Jun 15, 2007)

Mandryka said:


> Is this an American word? I've never seen it before. What's a heartland?





Bulldog said:


> It's likely American - means "central area".


I became acquainted with this word in 1983, in quite a repetitive way even, when I first listened to the song 'Heartland' by the ENGLISH band The Sisters of Mercy.






(Apologies for going off-topic )


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## Marc (Jun 15, 2007)

Mandryka said:


> [...]
> 
> As far as Schiff and Hewitt are concerned, I have nothing interesting to say.


Much of the same here.

I do listen to Bach on the piano from time to time. And yes, Angela Hewitt is one of the performers I have checked out. I even have a Hyperion boxset of her, plus her debut album on DG (1986).
IIRC, I also 'know' Schiff's Goldbergs on Decca. But I do not have any special memories about it.
Of the ones I have listened to, my favourite _Bach on the piano_ perfomers are Ivo Janssen (VOID Classics) and Vladimir Feltsman (Nimbus).
And, when I really want to hear the piano as a romantic instrument, the earlier mentioned Maria Tipo is a good choice IMHO.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Marc said:


> Much of the same here.
> 
> I do listen to Bach on the piano from time to time. And yes, Angela Hewitt is one of the performers I have checked out. I even have a Hyperion boxset of her, plus her debut album on DG (1986).
> IIRC, I also 'know' Schiff's Goldbergs on Decca. But I do not have any special memories about it.
> ...


If you want a romantic version of WTC on piano, I recommend that you give a listen to Samuil Feinberg.


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## Marc (Jun 15, 2007)

jegreenwood said:


> If you want a romantic version of WTC on piano, I recommend that you give a listen to Samuil Feinberg.


Thanks for the suggestion. Feinberg's Bach most certainly has got a more poetic and lyrical feel.

Personally, I'm a 's*cker' for harpsichord, and I mostly listen to period instruments whenever baroque music is concerned... but it sometimes annoys me when piano players try to 'imitate' the harpsichord by playing in an overly punctuated way. 
Thankfully, this is not an issue that keeps me awake at night though.


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## Bruckner Anton (Mar 10, 2016)

I prefer Schiff and Perahia's Bach, clean, concise, controlled, and to-the-point.


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## bz3 (Oct 15, 2015)

Hewitt, but Richter and Gould are the standards for me.


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## advokat (Aug 16, 2020)

Schiff seems uneven. He was one of my early preferences, but now I almost stopped listening to him. However, curiously, where I prefer young Barenboim to the present one, I prefer ECM Schiff to his earlier DECA incarnation. I was initially somewhat weary of Hewitt. However, I have grown to like her very much. My impression is that she, first, became comfortable with playing Bach on modern grand, in a Gould-like way, and then started to experiment with more romantic approaches. However, she is fully conversant with all the subtleties of Bach that could be lost when you transpose him to modern piano, and that makes her interesting. I think the best way to approach Hewitt is to listen to her recordings in a chronological order. This is a thrilling journey, for me at least. Apart from Hewitt, my favourite Bach pianists, in no particular order, are Rosalyn Tureck, Richter, Derzhavina, Korolev, Feltsman, Nikolaeva, Ugorskaja (for WTC), Gould, Yudina, Kempff.


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