The evening began with an engrossing account of Bach’s Keyboard Concerto in G-minor, powerful on a modern piano, especially as interpreted by Hewitt on her brilliantly toned, four-pedal Fazioli. She played throughout with crystalline articulation and exceptional delicacy. The opening Allegro unfoldedwith passionate nuance before a graceful traversal of the rhapsodic central movement. A rapid, remarkably confident Allegro assai concluded in a dazzling fugue.
Mozart’s G-major Concerto drew the listener into an operatic-like exchange of instrumental voices, with the woodwinds (flute, two oboes, and two bassoons) playing a prominent role. After starting out as a bright military march, theopening Allegro developed into a congenial musical conversation, taking some surprising turns and producing some charming harmonic innovations. The composer’s colorful treatment of winds along with the piano shone brightly in the middle Andante. The Finale’s theme, evocative of birdsong, led into a series of elegant variations before erupting as a joyfully glittering Presto. Hewitt and the ensemble played cleanly and gracefully throughout.
The Quintet in E-flat – for piano, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon – found the OSL musicians playing with a wonderfully confident sense of style, and with well-judged tempos. The graceful wind lines flowed freely. Especially noteworthy moments included the smoothly descending bassoon line in the Largo intro of the first movement, the gentle calls in the central Larghetto, and the interplay between the piano and winds throughout the final Allegretto.
The final item, Bach’s great D-minor concerto, was performed with tremendous insight and cohesion. In the opening Allegro, Hewitt’s crisp but even touch emitted an attractively light sound. Her passages with the ensemble were exceptionally dramatic, and in the solo moments her variety of phrasing and articulation was a constant delight. In the Adagio her songful legato was sublime, while her playing in the outer movements was imbued with an unusual degree of passion.
For an encore, more Bach: a deeply affective account of the Largo from his F-minor Concerto.
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