Angela Hewitt

[Avery Todd]

Lawrence,

As you may remember, Angela recently performed the same program
here at the University of Houston.

You're correct about the evenness of the voicing. And of course,
just in general, good regulation and damping. A few specific
things to look out for that I had a little problem with here
(solved, though) :-):

1. In general, very good repetition with no excess friction,
specifically from around the middle on up a ways for trills in
the Bach. Sorry, I don't remember the specific notes. She'll
tell you if she has problems with that!

2. Damping, particularly on the lowest triple unison in the
bass (Bb1) assuming a Steinway 'D'. (There's a spot in the
Beethoven where it repeatedly jumps down to the octave Bb1 & Bb2.
If it doesn't shut off quickly, it starts to bother her because
it happens several times consecutively.)

3. Extremely fast single note repetition on F#4 and G#4 (I believe
were the notes) for the Ravel. I don't remember what it's called
but it's when the pianist 'strokes' the key with all 4 fingers.
FAST! She'll also tell you about this. In performance, the spot
that had that sounded like a machine gun repeating, it was so fast.

She was very gracious, friendly and enjoyable to work with. Of
course, it may have helped that I "stroked" her a little by being
around, asking about any problems, etc. :-)

Other than that, nothing specific. Her problems on your piano (if
any) may differ from the ones I had but these are some particular
things to watch for. It was a fantastic recital. Do the best
possible and relax and enjoy the recital. I don't think you'll be
disappointed!

Regards,
Avery

>Ms. Hewitt will be playing a concert here in Cincinnati this Sunday 2/25 as
>part of the Xavier Piano Series.  She is scheduled to play Capriccio in Bb,
>BWV 992 & Toccata in Cmin, BWV 911 by Bach, Variations & Fugue in Eb, Op.35
>by Beethoven, Ravel's Miroirs, and a Fantasia from Annees de Pelerinage II,
>No. 7 by Liszt.
>
>For those of you who have prepared pianos for her, any advice?  Sounds like
>evenness of voicing is high on her list.  Also, though I will probably keep
>the piano in ET, I would like to hear suggestions as to what may be a
>suitable temperament for such a program.  Ed?  Others?
>
>Lawrence
>
>Lawrence Becker, RPT
>Piano Technician
>University of Cincinnati
>College-Conservatory of Music