‘This album is now the benchmark recording of these works on the piano’ (Goldberg)

‘Interpretations of the highest quality … For sheer virtuosity she makes us hold our breath at the combination of clarity, dynamic variety and structural comprehension, which is faultlessly conveyed’ (Musical Opinion)

‘Exquisite playing … This disc reinforces Hewitt's position as one of the supreme Bach interpreters and provides the ideal entry point for newcomers to her’ (Music Week)

‘Her performances could hardly be more stylish or impeccable, more vital or refined; and, as a crowning touch, Hyperion's sound is superb’ (Gramophone)

‘A splendid issue altogether, and full marks to all concerned’ (Gramophone)

‘Best Classical Releases of 2009 (so far): acclaimed as one of the most creative and thoughtful performers of J.S. Bach's keyboard music since the innovative performances of her compatriot, Glenn Gould, Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt … brings across the 48 preludes and fugues with assured technique and generous expression’ (AllMusic, USA)

‘Hewitt dares to give us a bejeweled Bach. She has admirable independence in etching each voice in the fugues … she shapes and molds each phrase through color and rhythm … this is a vision of Bach that encompasses an elegant sensuality. It doesn't preclude emotion, either: at many points, I found myself brimming up with the beauty of it all’ (The Dallas Morning News)

‘Ten years ago, Hewitt covered this ground … it seemed she was the last word on the subject … setting out to be the queen of this corner, she delivers a new last word on the subject giving this work a new life that should have come from another interpreter farther down the line. If you own the original, you need to check out this set and hear that she has found more than subtle differences in the work to bring out. A tasty and deep outing that delivers much more than you’d expect’ (Midwest Record, USA)

‘Her recording is at once airy and inexpressibly profound. It has a significance way beyond the beauty and depth of her playing. In a chaotic, Dante-esque world … Angela Hewitt, with her heart-stopping playing of Bach on this vital new recording, offers a singular voice of clarity and reason’ (The Herald)

‘Angela Hewitt's Bach has long been a thing of wonder … this four CD set of both books of Das Wohltemperierte Klavier again illustrates how she can deploy the timbres and technical attributes of the piano to animate the music in the most sensitive way. Her palette of colours is judiciously chosen, her variety of touch and dynamics gauged so that each prelude and fugue has a character of its own and contributes something special to Bach's iridescent kaleidoscope of musical invention’ (The Daily Telegraph)

‘Listening to Angela Hewitt's latest thoughts on Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier alongside her late-1990s Hyperion cycle, it appears that her interpretations haven't changed so much as evolved, intensfied and, most important, internalised … while both versions hold equal validity and stature, Hewitt's remake ultimately digs deeper, with more personalised poetry’ (Gramophone)

‘A previous document, which draws on her development as a person and a performer over the past 10 years. Playing of this ease and assurance rarely has such a profound understanding of the material. This is no mechanical journey through the cycle of keys. This is life itself’ (The Observer)