V2 Ivan Moravec Plays Beethove

My first recording of the "big three" Beethoven Sonatas (the Moonlight, Pathetique and Appasionata) was Rudolf Serkin on Columbia Masterworks. I was encouraged to purchase it over the recording by Rubinstein on RCA because of Serkin's reputation as a Beethoven specialist. Although one cannot argue with Serkin's playing, I later learned that Rubinstein had special insights to bring to this music and thus I eagerly awaited its release in CD format so I could add it to my collection.

The "big three" don't fill out the CD format well enough in terms of minutes used, so it is now customary to add "Les Adieux" to the program. Thus we have a collection of Beethoven's most famous "named" piano sonatas (well, of course, this leaves out other worthy entries including the "Tempest", "Waldstein" and "Hammerklavier" sonatas). The Rubinstein recording, and the Moravec recording, consist of these "big four".

In a head-to-head comparison between Moravec's recording and Rubinstein, I surprisingly came away prefering Moravec's in all four sonatas. This was no mean feat, as I had come to appreciate Rubinstein's recording. Moravec is an exciting pianist. His playing is compelling, dynamic, and attentive to detail. This recording now ranks as my favorite collection of these favorite sonatas.

I have other favorites of the individual sonatas. Gilels still enthralls me in his 1965 Carnegie hall performance of the Moonlight sonata, and his DG recording of the Appasionata is outstanding. Steven Kovacevich performs the Pathetique with playing that is alternately incisive and delicate on his Great Pianist Series entry devoted to the Beethoven sonatas. Richter, Walter Klien, Richard Goode and Russell Sherman also give much pleasure in these. But, if you are looking for a single CD for these sonatas, this is the one I would turn to.

There are a few pianists who play these warhorses faster or louder. But the searing intensity of these performances, a product of Moravec's unique musical vision and uncanny sonic wizardry, put them in a class of their own.

Indeed in his hands, these pieces are not warhorses, they are revelations. As one newgroup commentator put it, no matter how well you may already know them, it is hard not to be overwhelmed by the "terrible beauty" of the music on this recording.

I wish that very accomplished performances weren't oversold as "revelations," one of the most hackneyed pieces of critical boilerplate. Ivan Moravec has been a coterie favorite since the early Sixties, and somehow everything he touches is considered revelatory. I have reservations about his playing, which at times seems mannered and arbitrary in its phrasing, so it was nice to discover that these Beethoven sonata readings from 1964 are very strong. For newcomers to Moravec, I would begin here rather than with his later remakes on Supraphon. In neither case, however, is the recorded sound ideal. Moravec or the engineers favor very close miking, and since the pianist uses little pedal and applies sfozandos with vigor, the percussive effect can be hard at times, even an assault on the ears.

The "Appassionata" gets some percussive attacks in the first movement, but that's true for Richter and Serkin, too, so it would be unfair to call it a liability. Like those two, Moravec takes a powerful, passionate approach to this music (I know it seems superfluous to say that anyone plays the Appassionata passionately, but many modern players, especially in the Brendel camp, or influenced by period ideas, don't). As with any reading that feels intuitively right, there's not much to add in the way of details; the first movement proceeds in great long strides with convincing interjections of explosive emotion. I found the opening of the andante con moto a bit square and perhaps on the glib side - Richter seems to hold the magic key here - and the variations are at times tinkly, a la Brendel, but Moravec's refinement is undeniable, and he keeps our attention through gradations of touch that are convincing. I also appreciate that he doesn't open the finale with a bang, and his gruff left hand growls in just the right way. The pace isn't unusually quick,, yet one notices how beautifully each note is articulated - a Moravec trademark - and the freedom with which the two hands are related is impressive, despite some hard attacks, not that these go beyond the standard set by Serkin and Richter. All told, this Appassionata can stand among the best, particularly if you favor muscular readings with a touch of personal phrasing.

The "Pathetique" also displays a willingness to obey the full range of Beethoven's markings from pianissimo to fortissimo, perhaps even stretching the boundaries a little, but this to me is a mark of true Beethoven style, as opposed to remaining in the decorous middle, which I find in Rubinstein, brendel, Kempff, and Paul Lewis, different as they are. Moravec's "Pathetique" is cut form the same cloth as the "Appassionata," and the reading therefore is bold, direct, and often thrilling. His sensitive touch and spring rhythmic sense is also much in evidence. The slow movement from which the sonata gained its title has always come naturally to great Chopin players, but Moravec's realizes that this shouldn't be turned into Chopin, and his gradations of touch have a lovely pristine classicism about them, even when he indulges in some extra delicacy. He is direct and fairly moderate in his pacing of the finale, with no affetuoso hesitations - this could be a Mozart Allegro. In sum, a fascinating reading that is among the best I've ever heard.

My album doesn't have the "Moonlight" sonata but ends with "Les Adieux," whose tender melancholy also falls naturally under the fingers of a Chopinist. Here Moravec does take us all the way into Chopin's world. He does this with such perfect poise that the beauty of his playing is irresistible, even though some part of the mind knows that Beethoven is more austere, if that's the right word. The tender touch extends even into the finale, so this reading is all of a piece. I don't have much to add beyond outright admiration. Like the "Pathetique," this "Les Adiexu" seems perfect and untouchable.

In the end, returning to these recordings after an absence of decades, I found myself deeply moved and impressed. On this occasion, at least, Moravec doesn't bow his head to Richter, Serkin, or anyone else.