The gifted Czech pianist Ivan Moravec, who appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on multiple occasions, died earlier today, July 27, 2015. He was 84.
Moravec’s appearances with the Orchestra were as follows:
March 27, 28 & 29, 1980
FRANCK Symphonic Variations for Piano and Orchestra
PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-flat Major, Op. 10
Garcia Navarro, conductor
January 7, 8, 9 & 12, 1988
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major, K. 503
Herbert Blomstedt, conductor
November 12, 13, 14 & 17, 1998
RAVEL Piano Concerto in G Major
Yaron Traub, conductor
(Traub replaced Riccardo Chailly, who canceled due to illness.)
March 27, 28 & 29, 1980
According to an obituary in Gramophone, Moravec “focused on the ‘central’ Romantic repertoire as well as music by Czech composers. Talking to Bryce Morrison for Gramophone‘s March 2004 issue, Moravec said: ‘My own recordings are a distillation of years of work and listening, of having my tape recorder always at hand. I would agree with [Arthur] Rubinstein who after recording would listen to the playback and say, “Now I have my piano lesson.” But unlike Rubinstein my conception of the relatively few works I have recorded has not radically altered, has remained loyal to my first thoughts and feelings. I have always taken my time and although I have learned and practiced a large repertoire (Ravel’s Gaspard, Rachmaninov, etc.) I have never felt ready to play most of it in public. . . . Life is so short and I have concentrated on what I feel I do best.'”
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July 27, 2015 at 6:41 PM
David Sanders
It’s interesting that even though he appeared in 1964 with Szell in Cleveland and in New York, he did not appear with the CSO until 1980, when he was 50. Also interesting is that he didn’t make his debut with the New York Philharmonic until 1989.