I had no idea what to expect from this performance while walking into the Concert Hall of the 92nd Street Y. Our class discussion the day before the recital shed some light on what a ‘fugue’ is, but as Ms. Hewitt began to give a description of each “contrapunctus” I became clueless once again. I’m vaguely familiar with musical jargon, so a lot of her opening statements flew right over my head unfortunately. However, once she began playing, I was able to appreciate the art despite my ignorance.
I was in complete awe of the sheer endurance Ms. Hewitt expressed throughout the 90 minute performance. I’ve seen some YouTube videos of people playing a 5-minute piano cover of a popular song, but 90 continuous minutes, especially of a piece that of that rigor, is phenomenal! Granted, took a few seconds here and there between each fugue to drink some water and ready herself for the next part. This is where I began to view the performance as a marathon. As the piece continued, the fugues became increasingly complicated, just as a marathon becomes more and more difficult the further you go. Hewitt seemed to be breezing through the race however, keeping her composure throughout the entire performance without getting fatigued. Her mastery of Bach’s composition was clear throughout, especially how she made the later parts such as Contrapunctus 11 seem like a walk in the park to perform. I find Bach’s creativity unbelievable, as he uses the same theme throughout the fugues yet able to change it in one way or another to create a unique sound. I wonder how he would feel about the creative license taken by the musical scholars that have completed the piece for him.
Another aspect of the performance that I’d like to mention was the ambience. The environment felt very different from the other performances we attended, perhaps because everyone in the audience was focused on the same subject at the same time. In other performances such as Elektra, some spectators may have been focusing on the singers while others were more concerned with the happenings of the orchestra, but here everyone had their eyes on Ms. Hewitt and the grand piano in the center of the stage. I was also mesmerized by Ms. Hewitt’s evident passion for the music which was displayed during the moments after she’d finish fugue and keep her eyes closed with her hands above the keyboard, waiting for the final note to completely resonate across the room.During these brief moments where Ms. Hewitt stopped playing, the audience was completely silent. At the very end of the performance she held this silence for about 10 seconds, and nobody dared to applaud yet since the performance still wasn’t over according to Hewitt. Hewitt continues Bach’s legacy in preserving the Art of Fugue well and I respect her mastery in a such a difficult medium.
