Claude Debussy; Frédéric Chopin - Piano Works (Ivan Moravec)

Information

Composer: Claude Debussy; Frédéric Chopin

CD1:

1. Debussy - Images (1ere série), L. 110: 1. Reflets dans L'eau
2. Debussy - Images (1ere série), L. 110: 2. Hommage à Rameau
3. Debussy - Images (1ere série), L. 110: 3. Mouvement
4. Debussy - Images (2ème Série), L. 111: 1. Cloches à travers les feuilles
5. Debussy - Images (2ème Série), L. 111: 2. Et la lune descend sur le temple qui fut
6. Debussy - Images (2ème Série), L. 111: 3. Poissons d'or
7. Debussy - Des pas sur la neige
8. Debussy - Estampes,  L. 100: 1. Pagodes
9. Debussy - Estampes,  L. 100: 2. La soirée dans Grenade
10. Debussy - Estampes,  L. 100: 3. Jardins sous la pluie

CD2:

1. Chopin - Mazurka in F minor, Op .63 No. 2
2. Chopin - Mazurka in A minor, Op. 68 No. 2
3. Chopin - Mazurka in B-flat major, Op. 7 No. 1
4. Chopin - Mazurka in C-sharp minor, Op. 30 No. 4
5. Chopin - Mazurka in B minor, Op. 33 No. 4
6. Chopin - Waltz in A minor, Op. 34 No. 2
7. Chopin - Waltz in C-sharp minor, Op. 64 No. 2
8. Chopin - Waltz in E minor, Op. posth.
9. Chopin - Polonaise in C-sharp minor, Op. 26 No. 1
10. Chopin - Polonaise-Fantasie in A-flat major, Op. 61

Ivan Moravec, piano
Recording dates: 1982 (CD1) 1983 (CD2)
Label: Vox
https://www.discogs.com/Moravec-Plays-Debussy-And-Chopin/release/2905439

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 10

Recorded in 1982/83, Ivan Moravec's Debussy and Chopin recitals for Vox count among the most attractively engineered piano recordings from the early days of digital. Max Wilcox's engineering does full justice to Moravec's luminescent tone and ultra-discreet mastery of the sustain pedal. The runs and arpeggios in Debussy's Reflets dans l'eau, Mouvement, and Poissons d'or flow so naturally and unmechanically that you don't immediately notice how precise and even they really are. The hushed, sustained atmosphere of Debussy's Des pas sur la neige and Estampes' exotic overtones come alive through Moravec's acute sense of timing and tonal application.

Although his less-heroic, more inward path through Chopin's C-sharp minor Polonaise and Polonaise-Fantasie contrasts with Artur Rubinstein's firmer swagger, the approach proves equally valid. And Moravec coaxes half tints and inner voices from his selected Mazurkas and Waltzes without unduly underlining them (the trio of the C-sharp minor Waltz, for instance). Even if you already possess Michelangeli's Debussy Images, Richter's Estampes, or Rubinstein's Chopin, Moravec deserves equal space in your collection. A bargain not to be missed. [2/26/2002]

-- Jed Distler, ClassicsToday

More reviews:

http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/v/vox05103a.php

http://www.amazon.com/Plays-Chopin-Debussy-Ivan-Moravec/dp/B000001K47

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Claude Debussy (22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures associated with Impressionist music. Debussy was among the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and his use of non-traditional scales and chromaticism influenced many composers who followed. Debussy's music is noted for its sensory content and frequent usage of atonality.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Debussy

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Frédéric Chopin (22 February or 1 March 1810 – 17 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic era who wrote primarily for the solo piano. He gained and has maintained renown worldwide as one of the leading musicians of his era, whose "poetic genius was based on a professional technique that was without equal in his generation". Chopin's music, his status as one of music's earliest superstars, his association (if only indirect) with political insurrection, his love life and his early death have made him a leading symbol of the Romantic era in the public consciousness. His works remain popular, and he has been the subject of numerous films and biographies of varying degrees of historical accuracy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric_Chopin

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Ivan Moravec (9 November 1930 – 27 July 2015) was a Czech concert pianist whose performing and recording career spanned nearly half a century. Moravec studied with Erna Grünfeld, Ilona Štěpánová-Kurzová and attend master classes in Arezzo with Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. Moravec had a reputation for attention to the condition of the pianos he played. Moravec's recordings for the Connoisseur Society were notable for their audiophile quality, and he also recorded for several other labels, including Vox, Nonesuch, Dorian, Hänssler, and Supraphon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Moravec

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/ivan-moravec-mn0001644567/biography

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