Ivan Moravec’s Prague Spring 2000 recital features works by Haydn and Janácek that are new to this pianist’s discography on CD, together with fresh looks at the last eight preludes from Chopin’s Op. 28 group. The opening salvo, Haydn’s D major sonata, gets a witty and pointed reading, with scrupulous ornaments that never sound fussy or overstudied and ideal balances between hands. Moravec brings a classical reserve to Janácek’s two-movement Sonata that contrasts with Andras Schiff’s freer, more volatile approach, yet pays equal heed to the composer’s distinct marcato and staccato indications (a feat easier said than done!). In the Adagio’s opening and closing sections, Moravec’s abrupt release of the sustain pedal allows the 16th-rests to truly speak their choked silences. Similar attention to small yet important details also proves revelatory throughout In the Mists. Notice, for example, the care with which Moravec firmly articulates the Presto movement’s left-hand chords, providing sturdy support rather than mere accompaniment to the quirky melody in the right hand.
Listeners familiar with Moravec’s two studio recordings of the Chopin Preludes will marvel at the pianist’s undiminished strength and poetic persuasion in the declamatory F minor, G minor, and D minor selections. He tames the E-flat prelude’s taxing rotary patterns and spaces his unconventional yet convincing rubatos in the A-flat prelude with effortless equilibrium while putting a brusque, unvarnished spin on the thrice-familiar C minor. In the Chopin Mazurka encores, Moravec gorgeously shades the decorative patterns of Chopin’s A minor and the C-sharp minor’s little canon near the end. And Debussy’s Ondine is ravishingly evocative and refined via Moravec’s exquisite textural layering. The pianist’s audience enthusiastically responds to what they hear. So will you.
