Topic: Ivan Moravec

[Zhiliang]

Hi, i have just bought a cd of Ivan Moravec playing the Chopin Ballades and have been impressed. Are there any other essential or great recordings i can also buy?

[Brewski]

Others will have many more suggestions than I can offer, but I do have this disc of Debussy and Chopin (on Vox, from 1983), which I bought shortly after hearing him playing both composers live a couple of years ago.  (He was superb, by the way.)

--Bruce

[mn dave]

chopin nocturnes

[Todd]

[SonicMan46]

chopin nocturnes

Agree w/ Dave & Todd on the 2-CD set of Nocturnes; replaced a previous set & I've listened to others since the Moravec purchase, but keep it in my collection! 

[Zhiliang]

Thanks for all the recommendations, i really find so many new ideas in his Ballades.

[Zhiliang]

Is he well known for his Chopin? How is his Beethoven Sonatas?

[dirkronk]

If Todd's many illustrations don't provide an obvious hint, let me simplify things somewhat: buy everything you can find by Moravec. At least, everything that you consider affordable--he has a Beethoven CD featuring the Appassionata (taken from his 1960s recordings of LvB sonatas) that commands ever-larger sums on Amazon and elsewhere. The reason is simple: almost everything Moravec does is well considered, intelligent AND interesting.

In fact, if you still have a working turntable, you should look for two LP box sets (one on Beethoven, the other on Chopin) that were widely distributed in the US by a Book-of-the-Month offshoot back in the '60s and '70s and that show up for absurdly low amounts at thrifts and used bookstores. These are treasures--and contain many of the same performances, in excellent sound, that are found on several of the CDs already noted here.

I've suggested several times, on this forum and elsewhere, that it's time for Brilliant or Naxos or some label to collect and reissue all the Moravec available.

Um...can you tell that I rather like the pianist?
 

Cheers,

Dirk

[rubio]

I very much consider this one at the moment :

[George]

Hi, i have just bought a cd of Ivan Moravec playing the Chopin Ballades and have been impressed. Are there any other essential or great recordings i can also buy?

Anything with his name on it. Especially the ones by Chopin or Beethoven. 

[Que]

I very much consider this one at the moment :

Bélholávek does not quite match Moravec's level of inspiration, but the Czech Philharmonic is a pleasure to the ear.

Q

[George]

Bélholávek does not quite match Moravec's level of inspiration, but the Czech Philharmonic is a pleasure to the ear.

Q

Yes, while not a top choice, there is much to enjoy in that set.

[Josquin des Prez]

Moravec's Appassionata is as definitive as you can get.

[ezodisy]

this is my favourite Moravec release. However as others have said, whatever you buy will have something special about it. In particular keep an eye out for a rare Moravec/Ancerl CD of Prokofiev PC 1.

[Bogey]

Saw him live in March of 2007.  He performed Mozart's PC No. 14 and Franck's Symphonic Variations for Piano and Orchestra.....absolutely incredible.

[Daverz]

Really, anything of his that you can get your hands on.  However, I never got the Brahms concertos as the reviews seemed rather luke warm on that one (more the fault of Behlolavek, I suspect.)

In addition to what others have recommended:

 

The second has his earlier recording of the Beethoven 4th concerto with Turnovsky.  That last one has sonatas 8, 14, 23 & 26.  If you do buy any of the VAI CDs, check them right away.  I got one that wouldn't play at all and had to be replaced.

[Zhiliang]

Thanks for all the recommendations. Now i know, he is THAT GOOD     I have already ordered the Nocturnes....

[mn dave]

Anyone have this?

[aquablob]

If you enjoy Moravec in Chopin (why wouldn't you?), I would recommend the 2002 release from Vox Classics (VXP 7908) on which he plays the Bb Minor sonata, the Berceuse, the Fantaisie, three mazurkas, and perhaps most importantly, his hands-down best recording of the 4th Ballade. So far as I know, there are three available recordings of Moravec playing the 4th Ballade. Of the three, this is definitely the best, and probably the best recording of the piece I have heard. (Another excellent recording of Moravec playing this piece is stuck at the end of the Supraphon release of the 24 Preludes).

And I would repeat the recommendations for his nocturnes -- unrivaled in my opinion. I have been on a Moravec kick as of late. Certainly one of the greatest living pianists.

As a side note, I've also recently discovered Earl Wild's Chopin. If you find Moravec's Ballades convincing, I have a feeling you may also enjoy Wild's recording of the Ballades and Scherzos... his interpretations are unlike Moravec's, but the two are similar in that they both fully/maturely understand the music and bring out all sorts of nuances many others miss.

Why do so few people know of Moravec?

[Daverz]

Anyone have this?

Yes, it's pretty good, but I still think I prefer the Schumann recording with Neumann.