CHOPIN

Though I have a few reservations, this cd contains some of the finest Chopin playing you'll ever hear. To get the grumbles out of the way first, Moravec has a tendency to get a little too fancy at times, to insert pauses between, and sometimes within, phrases, thus fracturing the line. This shows up in the trio of the funeral march and. most particularly, throughout the Fourth Ballade, a work whcih Moravec worries to death. The main theme, which I believe ought to be played simply, is frequently disrupted by these ungainly pauses. The recent performance by Cedric Tiberghien (Harmonia Mundi), though not nearly as well recorded, is much more to my taste. With that cavil out of the way, we can get on to the rest of this cd, which is fabulous. Moravec interprets the sonata (with first movement repeat, by the way) more lyrically than most, finding much more variety than usual in the first movement. The scherzo too is more enigmatic than barnstorming, and the funeral march less oppressive and more consoling. The Berceuse is, as you would expect, exquisite, and the marzurkas are simply incomparable. No other pianist, in my view, unlocks the secrets of these elusive masterpieces the way Moravec does. A great performance of the Fantasie concludes the disc. The recorded sound is fully equal to the performances. If you love Chopin, you can't afford to miss this cd.

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It was superb! A most satisfying, delicate, and passionate treat for the musical mind and heart.I understand that Moravec's father/teacher was an opera singer. One can hear the music as song in his work.

Great quality of the recording! Perfect!

This disc, well recorded in 2002 when Moravec was 72 years of age, offers an accumulation of wisdom when it comes to his very personal vision of Chopin. These performances are all deeply satisfying, very beautiful, very introspective, very improvisatory, powerful and also darkly impressive.Like so many of his Chopin recital programs there is one main work supplemented by a number of shorter works which are frequently things of great beauty - real musical gems in his hands. Moravec has a range of touch that is frequently very gentle yet which can deliver great strength. This is not the same thing as brute force, which he never delivers. His playing is frequently introspective or inwardly communicating with a strong improvisatory nature but this is supported by a tight rhythmical control modified with subtle use of rubato.The sonata that starts this disc is a disturbed work as Schumann so rightly described ...'dissonances into dissonances ....he (Chopin) has simply bound together a few of his wildest children, to smuggle them under his name into a piece they could not have else penetrated.' The element of darkness is not shirked in this performance and thus the funeral march of the third movement is set within the context of surrounding movements that match its sombre mood.The following Berceuse is a thing of incredible beauty and that is followed by a powerfully dark rendering of the fourth Ballade. This performance is a concept built on a gigantic emotional scale rising to a tremendously impressive climax before sinking back to a sort of brooding and sad exhaustion - a further example of Chopin's disturbed frame of mind. The three mazurkas give welcome relief and, typical of Moravec, their dance origins cannot be missed. The final piece is a wonderful performance of the Fantasie, a free-wheeling improvisatory experience combining pathos and nobility in a matchless expression of eloquence.The nature of such a varied program makes collecting this disc produce an inevitable situation of doubled performances with other records. However, by avoiding this disc, the collector will also bypass a musical experience difficult to match elsewhere.I would therefore suggest that this is an invaluable musical experience and as such deserves to be considered very strongly for potential purchase no matter what cataloguing problems such a varied collection may produce for collectors. As a self-contained concert program it is completely convincing and quite unique in its accumulative power.

All of this music has been recorded many times over by musicians ranging from the dire to the sublime. For any Chopin recording to really stand out from the pack nowadays, it has to have some really special qualities. This is one of those recordings, and as someone who has never heard any other Moravec, it has made me eager to explore him further.The B-flat minor Sonata of Chopin is a four-movement work cut from granite; the third movement is the Funeral March you hear at every memorial service today. The sonata can be shattering, but Moravec plays it with an inward expression I've never heard before in this piece, together with the most rounded tone to be recorded since Rubinstein. His interpretation is dramatic and majestic, not athletic, and certainly not bombastic.The Berceuse is next, a short and deservedly popular cradle song which uses a gentle, rocking ostinato figure, practically unchanged through the entire piece, underneath what amounts to a kind of chaconne. I do not expect to ever hear it played with a greater inner peace than on this CD.Following this little bon-bon is the great F minor Ballade, which is deeply tragic. A heavenly opening with subtle bell effects, which returns later in A major to great effect, is followed by a curiously obsessive theme which sounds like a song sung by a child in the wilderness. This theme keeps returning, in varied forms as the child grows into a full-fledged adult, until it returns one last time for the coda, in the form of an intense and furious two-part counterpoint which is among the most difficult passages in Chopin and leaves a strong psychological imprint.Included in the CD are three Mazurkas, which are delightful. Strict Polish practice would entail prolonging the first beat for so long that it felt like a 4/4, rather than a 3/4 as notated. The usual approach today is to ignore this stylistic trait and play the Mazurkas like Waltzes, but Moravec's solution is to use a pungent rubato which fits the melody and accents its light, dance-like quality. Even if it is not a perfectly accurate mazurka style, Moravec is thoroughly charming.The disc ends with the Fantaisie in F minor, a brilliant military-themed work which I both love and hate when I play it myself, because it is comfortable for the hand and very rewarding to listen to, but it is not easy to hold together structurally. This recording has gone a long way towards instructing me in how to do that. Without question, this Fantaisie stands head and shoulders over any other recording of this work I've heard, be it from Rubinstein, Pollini, Arrau, or Katchen, all legendary pianists in their own right.In all, recommended in the strongest possible terms. Don't think twice.

This disc, well recorded in 2002 when Moravec was 72 years of age, offers an accumulation of wisdom when it comes to his very personal vision of Chopin. These performances are all deeply satisfying, very beautiful, very introspective, very improvisatory, powerful and also darkly impressive.Like so many of his Chopin recital programs there is one main work supplemented by a number of shorter works which are frequently things of great beauty - real musical gems in his hands. Moravec has a range of touch that is frequently very gentle yet which can deliver great strength. This is not the same thing as brute force, which he never delivers. His playing is frequently introspective or inwardly communicating with a strong improvisatory nature but this is supported by a tight rhythmical control modified with subtle use of rubato.The sonata that starts this disc is a disturbed work as Schumann so rightly described ...'dissonances into dissonances ....he (Chopin) has simply bound together a few of his wildest children, to smuggle them under his name into a piece they could not have else penetrated.' The element of darkness is not shirked in this performance and thus the funeral march of the third movement is set within the context of surrounding movements that match its sombre mood.The following Berceuse is a thing of incredible beauty and that is followed by a powerfully dark rendering of the fourth Ballade. This performance is a concept built on a gigantic emotional scale rising to a tremendously impressive climax before sinking back to a sort of brooding and sad exhaustion - a further example of Chopin's disturbed frame of mind. The three mazurkas give welcome relief and, typical of Moravec, their dance origins cannot be missed. The final piece is a wonderful performance of the Fantasie, a free-wheeling improvisatory experience combining pathos and nobility in a matchless expression of eloquence.The nature of such a varied program makes collecting this disc produce an inevitable situation of doubled performances with other records. However, by avoiding this disc, the collector will also bypass a musical experience difficult to match elsewhere.I would therefore suggest that this is an invaluable musical experience and as such deserves to be considered very strongly for potential purchase no matter what cataloguing problems such a varied collection may produce for collectors. As a self-contained concert program it is completely convincing and quite unique in its accumulative power.

Luminously beautiful playing by this exceptional pianist. His sensitivity and colouring of tone are quite legendary. What a wonderful CD to own.

Recital Chopin de 2002 de 64 minutos de duración por el pianista checo Ivan Moravec que, a los 73 años, seguía con su (enorme) técnica intacta. El programa: Sonata Num. 2 Op. 35; Berceuse Op. 57; Balada Num. 4 Op. 54; Tres Mazurkas: Op. 6 Num. 3, Op. 24 Num. 4, Op. 30 Num. 3; Fantasia Op. 49.Los superlativos se agotan con este pianista: con un tono de lujoso esplendor y luminosidad, línea cantábile serena y estable, rubato elástico pero impredecible, ritmos coherentes y ausencia de idiosincrasias o erupciones de emotividad, Moravec da una interpretación con acentuaciones no convencionales, pero fiel al espíritu chopiniano, de la Sonata. Exhibe menos fiereza en el Scherzo que otros pianistas menos consistentes traen a esta obra, la Marcha Funebre transcurre con dignidad y sin sentimentalismo y el Finale es inquietante en su velocidad y ligereza. Berceuse y Balada reciben interpretaciones antológicas por su lirismo, luminosidad, su sentido de la línea musical y, sobre todo, por la belleza de sonido que el pianista es capaz de arrancar a su Steinway. La Fantasia recibe un tratamiento a la vez intelectual y apasionado, procediendo inexorablemente a su climax devastador.Afortunadamente la toma de sonido no sabotea los esfuerzos artísticos del pianista y le hace justicia, proporcionando transparencia, mucha atmósfera y reproduciendo acertadamente la paleta tonal del artista. Fue realizada en la Academy of Arts & Letters de New York. Un gran recital y una gran producción.

This CD unfortunately suffers from poor quality control during manufacture and as such has what is called "disc rot". Apparent, as what looks like a water stain on the reflective layer. Amazon customer service was great as always and the return was accepted.