Ivan Moravec - Mozart K.488
by
Lyn Bronson
Pianist Ivan Moravec and his wife Zuzana
It appeared to be an all Czech event at Flint Center in
Cupertino yesterday afternoon as Czech pianist Ivan Moravec appeared as piano
soloist with the San Francisco Symphony under the direction of Czech conductor
Jiří Bělohlávek in a program dominated by Czech composers Janáček and Martinů.
That is, of course, except for the Mozart Concerto in A
Major, K.488 featuring the distinguished Mr. Moravec, but then Prague with its
rich musical life played an important role in Mozart’s career, so you could say
that there was still a Czech flavor about this concert.
It is always a pleasure to hear Mr. Moravec, for he is a
thorough musician who consistently exhibits great integrity in his music making. In
his playing there is nothing for show or effect, only love and respect for the inherent values in
the music itself. Whereas some pianists might attempt to bring a more brilliant,
virtuoso approach to performing the Mozart A Major Concerto, Moravec gave us an
intimate and subtle chamber music performance. Always listening to the
orchestra, he molded and blended his performance so that he became an integral
part of the ensemble.
To hear the way he shaped his phrases with loving care,
sometimes tapering them off to a delicious pianissimo as one of his
phrases would end and an orchestra phrase begin, was one of the great pleasures
of his performance. He performed the Adagio with simplicity, avoiding the
tortured fussiness we sometimes hear in this movement, and his sparkling
performance in the finale projected a sense of joy and exuberance.
It has to be said that the acoustic qualities of Flint
Center (approximately 1500 seats) do not favor an intimate Mozart concerto
performance. Although the orchestra projected well, the piano was placed so far
forward on the stage (virtually in front of the proscenium arch), that it was
sometimes difficult to hear the piano, not so much when it was solo or with the strings,
but when winds were present. One of the great moments in the slow movement is on
the last page when the orchestra is playing pizzicato and the piano plays a
beautiful theme in single notes. Just at the moment when the unexpected
Neapolitan sixth chord appears, so do the winds, and it was disappointing how
much they covered up the piano. Otherwise, the San Franciso Symphony sounded
lovely throughout the Mozart concerto.
The most startling work on the program was Janáček’s
Overture to From the House of the Dead. The origin of this work was an
unfinished violin concerto, whose principal ideas were reworked into an overture
for his last opera, The House of the Dead, published and performed
posthumously in 1928. Thus it was not surprising that there was an important
violin part (actually two parts) in this overture and thus we heard some very
brilliant playing from Nadya Tichman in first chair, and from either Mark
Volkert or Jeremy Constant in second chair (we were sitting too far from the
stage to determine who was actually playing), but their fine playing was
generously acknowledged by Maestro Bělohlávek after the performance. This was a
brief work of about six minutes duration, and I was savoring the performance so
much that I never wanted it to end.
The afternoon’s program ended with a rousing performance
of Martinů’s Symphony No. Four. Full of big bold gestures, this is a work that
permitted the San Francisco Symphony to really shine. After the eerie sounds and
exciting textures of the first movement (a real feast for the ear), the second
movement was bursting with energy and achieved a startling climax. The third
movement, Largo, was disturbing and haunting, while achieving many
moments of beauty. The final movement blew us away with its exciting climax.
Wow!
Jiří Bělohlávek is a fine conductor who obviously has a
great reverence for the music he performs, and he also proved himself to be a
sensitive ensemble partner in the Mozart Concerto.
Good news for Ivan Moravec’s fans is that during his
current tour he is headed for Princeton New Jersey where he will be making a new
recording that will feature among other things, the Chopin Fantasy in F Minor
and the great F Minor Ballade No. 4. We will be looking forward to this release.
