Pianist plays two recitals with a broken foot
mainWe reported midweek that Angela Hewitt took a tumble shortly before a recital in Oxford and hurt her ankle so badly she could not stand.
So she set out for the venue in a wheelchair and gave the performance as scheduled.
Two nights later, on Friday, she played the Wigmore Hall.
Only then did she go for a full medical assessment, which revealed a broken bone in her foot.
It may be a while before she’s back on the dance floor, but hats off to her courage in not cancelling.
And the Wigmore recital was absolutely exquisite, according to a source so reliably close to me we share laundry baskets…
What did she play?
The whole of Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier, Book! Quite a journey it was, very lucky to have been there.
Beautiful story. Luckily she is not an organist. But wait: she would have needed at least ONE foot for the pedalling. Maybe she plaid the WTK à la harpsichord, without any pedal at all? Or did she use the left foot in case her right one was broken? That is heroic as well, going totally against any pianist’s feet instincts.
I actually wonder (does anyone know?) the repertoire actually played at the concerts represented a change in plans due to the broken ankle? So that she wouldn’t be required to use pedal and could still avoid letting down the ticketholders? (Which would be a brilliant triumph, although even if it had been the intended program, it sounds as though her playing was brilliant, in any event!)
Pedant here – she didn’t play the Wigmore Hall – she played the piano IN the Wigmore Hall.
She played TWTC Book 1 brilliantly last night here at the 92nd St. Y in New York, using her right foot to pedal (I assume her broken foot is her left, unless her broken foot is indeed her right but has healed enough since her accident to allow her use of the foot to pedal). She entered the stage on crutches, which she placed under the piano before sitting, and exited the stage the same way. Fantastic!