Ivan Moravec
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Ivan Moravec (9 November 1930 – 27 July 2015) was a
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...
concert
pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...
whose performing and recording career spanned nearly half a century. Media and critics worldwide often called Moravec "a poet of the piano" or "pianist supreme". He is considered one of the greatest interpreters of Chopin.


Life and career

Ivan Moravec was born in
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
. His first musical interest was in
opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
, which he attended as a child with his father. His father was an amateur pianist and singer, and helped his son sight-read and sing through the opera scores. Moravec later began piano studies with Erna Grünfeld (niece of the Austrian pianist Alfred Grünfeld). At twenty, he entered the
Prague Conservatory The Prague Conservatory () is a public music school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, the school offers four- or six-year courses, which can be compared to the level of a high school diploma in other countries. Graduates c ...
, then went on to the Prague Academy of Arts, where he studied with
Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová (19 November 1899 in Lviv – 25 September 1975 in Prague) was a Czechoslovak concert pianist and piano teacher, a professor at the Prague Academy of Arts. Her students included Ivan Moravec. Ilona Štěpánová-Ku ...
, daughter of
Vilém Kurz Vilém Kurz (23 December 1872 – 25 May 1945) was a Czechs, Czech pianist and piano teacher. Career Kurz was born in Havlíčkův Brod, Německý Brod, Bohemia in 23 December 1873. He became a professor at the State Conservatory in Lviv and Vi ...
. In 1957, after hearing Moravec play in Prague,
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (; 5 January 1920 – 12 June 1995) was an Italian classical pianist. He is considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century. According to ''The New York Times'', he was perhaps the most reclusive, ...
invited him to attend
master class ''Master Class'' is a 1995 play by American playwright Terrence McNally, presented as a fictional master class by opera singer Maria Callas near the end of her life, in the 1970s. The play features incidental vocal music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giac ...
es in
Arezzo Arezzo ( , ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the Province of Arezzo, province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of Above mean sea level, above sea level. As of 2 ...
that summer. In the late 1950s, an audio tape of a Prague recital was circulated in America.Dyer, Richard ''Unmistakably Moravec'', Boston Globe, 1991-08-08 Soon afterwards,
Connoisseur Society Connoisseur Society is an American audiophile classical music and jazz record label. It was founded by E. Alan Silver and James Goodfriend. Silver and Goodfriend helped artists from the Eastern bloc to perform in the US during the Cold War, amon ...
, a small American
audiophile An audiophile (from + ) is a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction. The audiophile seeks to achieve high sound quality in the audio reproduction of recorded music, typically in a quiet listening space in a room with ...
record company, negotiated with the Czech authorities to engage the young Moravec. In 1962 he traveled to New York to create the first of many recordings for that label, and in 1964
George Szell George Szell (; June 7, 1897 – July 30, 1970), originally György Széll, György Endre Szél, or Georg Szell, was a Hungarian-born American conductor, composer and pianist. Considered one of the twentieth century's greatest conductors ...
invited him to perform with the
Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". T ...
. Moravec's international concert career was launched. Moravec performed major recital works by Chopin,
Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...
,
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
, and
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
, as well as
Czech composers Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...
. He played with most of the world's notable symphony orchestras, and his active piano concerto repertoire included more than a dozen works by Mozart, Beethoven,
Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, often set within studied ye ...
,
Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...
,
Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...
,
Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...
, and
Franck Franck can refer to: People * Franck (name) Other * Franck, Argentina, town in Santa Fe Province, Argentina * Franck (company), Croatian coffee and snacks company * Franck (crater), Lunar crater named after James Franck See also * Franc (di ...
. Moravec also taught music in Prague, and frequently gave master classes when on tour. In the 1984 film ''
Amadeus Amadeus may refer to: People and fictional characters * Amadeus (name) Amadeus is a theophoric name, theophoric given name derived from the Latin words ' – the Imperative mood, imperative of the word ' ("to love") – and ' ("god"). As a Compou ...
'' about the life of Mozart, Moravec can be heard playing part of Mozart's Piano Concerto in E-flat. Moravec had a reputation for attention to the condition of the pianos he played. He contended that this reputation was somewhat exaggerated, and named other pianists who traveled with a spare action or even their own pianos. Moravec's baggage was less extensive: a small black bag containing a few carefully chosen voicing tools. He comments, "I only try to meet with the technician, and I listen with him for any unevenness in sound. I do not find mechanical problems, because today the technicians in great cities are very knowledgeable, so mainly I listen to harsh notes, or to weak notes, and ask for these to be changed gently, and I try to put the local piano in the best condition." Moravec died on 27 July 2015 in Prague at the age of 84.


Awards and honors

* In 2010, the ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' selected Moravec's 1965 recording of Chopin's
Nocturnes A nocturne is a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night. History The term ''nocturne'' (from French '' nocturne'' "of the night") was first applied to musical pieces in the 18th century, when it indicated an ensembl ...
as one of 5 representative works to showcase their celebration of the bicentenary of Chopin's birth. * In 2000 Moravec was awarded the Charles IV Prize, the Czech Republic's most prestigious acknowledgement of service to humanity. * In 2000 President
Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...
presented Moravec with the Medal of Merit for outstanding artistic achievements. * In 2002 Moravec was awarded the
Cannes Classical Award The International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) are music awards first awarded 6 April 2011. ICMA replace the Cannes Classical Awards (later called MIDEM Classical Awards) formerly awarded at MIDEM. The jury consists of music critics of magazines ...
for lifetime achievement. *In 2004 Cannes Classical Awards *In 1974 Wiener Flötenuhr – Preis der Mozartgemeinde Wien for the recording of Mozart’s Concerto for piano and orchestra *In 1975 Wiener Flötenuhr – Preis der Mozartgemeinde Wien for the recording of Mozart’s Concerto No 25 in C major *In 1976 American Stereo review´s Record of the year Award for the recording of Schumann’s Concerto for piano and orchestra in a minor


Discography

Moravec's recordings for the
Connoisseur Society Connoisseur Society is an American audiophile classical music and jazz record label. It was founded by E. Alan Silver and James Goodfriend. Silver and Goodfriend helped artists from the Eastern bloc to perform in the US during the Cold War, amon ...
are known for their audiophile quality,Balgalvis, Arnis, ''The Audiophile Voice'', Vol.9 Issue2 Page 18
Best Sound at the Show
, 2006-08-08
and nearly all of them remain available, following the LP era, on CD reissues. Moravec also recorded for other labels, including Vox, Nonesuch, Dorian,
Hänssler Hänssler-Verlag is a German music publishing house founded in 1919 as Musikverlag Hänssler by (died 1972) to publish church music. In 1941 the Nazi government shut down the publishing house. It was allowed by the West German authorities to reo ...
, and
Supraphon Supraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, oriented mainly towards publishing classical music and popular music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers. History The Supraphon name was first registered as a trademark in 1932. Th ...
. In 1998 a 2-CD compilation of Ivan Moravec recordings was published as part of the landmark
Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...
series,
Great Pianists of the 20th Century ''Great Pianists of the 20th Century '' was a 200-CD box set released by Philips Records in 1999 and sponsored by Steinway & Sons. The box set comprises 100 volumes featuring 72Guttman 1999, 2005. pianists of the 20th century, each volume with ...
consisting of Chopin mazurkas and other works, Franck's Prelude, choral et fugue, Books 1 and 2 of Debussy's
Images An image or picture is a visual representation. An image can be two-dimensional, such as a drawing, painting, or photograph, or three-dimensional, such as a carving or sculpture. Images may be displayed through other media, including a project ...
and his Pour le piano, and Ravel's Sonatine. When classical music critics for
the Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
selected in 2010 on celebrate the bicentennial of Chopin's birth, they chose Moravec’s Nocturnes for its “extraordinary dynamic shading and gracious shaping of each gemlike work.

Selected recordings include: * Chopin: ''Nocturnes'', vol. 1, Connoisseur Society (1966) (CS-1065). Reissue, Elektra Records, Electra/ Nonesuch (1991) * Chopin: ''Nocturnes'', vol. 2, Connoisseur Society (1966) (CS-1165). Reissue, Elektra Records, Electra/ Nonesuch (1991) * ''Moravec plays Chopin'', Connoisseur Society (1969) (CS-2019) * Debussy: ''Preludes'', ''Clair de lune'', ''Children's Corner Suite'', Connoisseur Society (1967) * Piano Works—Debussy: ''Jardins sous la Pluie (Estampes)'', ''Suite'', ''La Puerta del Vino'', ''Ondine'', Feuilles mortes'', Ravel: ''Sonatine'', Athena Records (1990) (ALSY-10002) (LP) * Janáček: Sonata 1. X. 1905 and In the Mists (Hänssler, recorded 2000) * Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B Flat Major (Supraphon, recorded 1990)


Notes


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moravec, Ivan 1930 births 2015 deaths 20th-century Czech classical pianists Recipients of Medal of Merit (Czech Republic) Prague Conservatory alumni