Czech Pianist Moravec Stuns with Virtuoso Performance

Author: Sasha Gentling

Audience members were left spellbound by the performance given by the great Czech pianist, Ivan Moravec, last Sunday in the CFA Concert Hall. For those who had seen Moravec's outstanding performance of all 24 Chopin Preludes at Middlebury in 1999, their presence at this recital was simply expected. For those who had never before heard this great pianist in concert, his music offered an array of delightful surprises full of rich and captivating nuances.

The program included eight of the Chopin Mazurkas, each of which danced with a sort of aristocratic pride. Chopin, who wrote nearly 60 Mazurkas for the piano, established its place in the concert repetoire, while also shaping its traditional style into one more heavily embellished and ornamented. Chopin helped to find a distinction between the waltz and the Mazurka by adding a touch of abandon to the latter, making the piece appear less metrical and more stylized. Moravec solidly handled this necessity through his masterful and simultaneous working of tempo, rhythm, and pedaling. Sensuous abandonment also characterized Moravec's performance of the Chopin Fantasie in F minor.

The second half of the performance began with a piece by the Czech composer, Leos Janacek. As if honoring his nationalistic ties with this composer, Moravec chose to perform an early piano "sonata" named "From the Street: Oct. 1, 1905." The piece is referred to as a sonata though it contains two movements instead of the characteristic three. Originally there were three movements, however Janacek burned the finale before it could be premiered. The program notes failed to explain the significance of this piece that was composed in response to events in Brno in 1905. On Oct. 1 of that year, an unarmed carpenter was killed by Austro-Hungarian troops after having protested against a decision refusing the establishment of a Czech University in the city.

Moravec ended the program with "La Soiree dans la Grenade," and "Pour le piano" by Debussy. In an interview with WBUR Radio, Boston, Moravec said, "[Debussy's music] evokes an imagination of a tremendous space. And of time which is like to be stopped. No time! If you give to the long notes enough time, then the perception of the piece is really something quite exceptional." In last Sunday's concert, Moravec often deliberately held a tone that soon faded gracefully into a new theme. This technique was especially appealing in his Debussy interpretations. To understand his motive for this, Moravec offers his perspective on coping with the limitations of the piano: "… I am really looking for a long tone, and long sound. And I'm aware of the limitation of our instrument, the piano, because the tone drops ... This is my biggest sadness, that I can't do, holding a nice F on the piano, a nice crescendo." One would never guess that these are the little things that concert pianists fret over.

Yet in an attempt to reconcile an undying perfectionism, many pianists develop an intense preoccupation with the sound of the piano that is to be played during a performance. It is not unusual for pianists to be interested in how the piano actually works; Ivan Moravec is known to tune the piano himself before almost all performances (I was much surprised to see him tuning our Steinway, mid-afternoon, before his 1999 performance). He admits, "I know that some of my colleagues like to play in a city where I have just played because they know the piano will be in a better condition!"

Moravec's perfectionism also applies uniquely to his style of interpretive study of a piece. After having learned most of the notes, Moravec assiduously explores a spectrum of possible nuances to employ in each of his chosen pieces. According to the liner notes of his CD Immortal Pages, Moravec is noted to embody piano pieces with every possible retard, accelerando, forte, piano, crescendo, etc., recording many of these explorations on tape recorder. He then listens to them in the evening and eliminates any sounds that he feels are too restrictive. It is in this manner that he fits his artistic vision into an appropriate assemblage whose motive is to imbue a piano piece with personality and character.

Surprisingly, Moravec's method of practice goes almost entirely against the norm for classical piano study: instead of adding on to what is learned, he subtracts, thus focusing his imaginative power on only the most essential gradations.

Perhaps it is needless to say that Middlebury College is incredibly fortunate to be graced with the presence of artists like Ivan Moravec. His creativity, originality, and reputation make him truly one of the great pianists of the 20th century, as well as one that will continue to inspire musicians of this current century.