This is an excerpt from the 1976 liner notes of the Connoisseur Society LP, Immortal Pages, ( CS 2123), on which Moravec plays Beethoven, Brahms, Debussy, and Chopin. It offers a fascinating insight into how Moravec works, from a man who worked closely with him.
Czech pianist Ivan Moravec is one of those rare artists whose extraordinary pianism and unique personality has been transmitted to the public mostly through the medium of the phonograph record. Since his first recording appeared in 1962, he has established a legend for himself among record collectors as one of the great contemporary interpreters of Beethoven, Chopin, and Debussy, and is, indeed, highly regarded for his performances of many other major composers.
His technique of self study and the manner in which he arrives at his interpretative conceptions may be of interest to young pianists and others musically inclined. It is fairly standard procedure (I myself was a piano student for many years) to master a work technically and in the process and/or subsequently bring to it more and more interpretative nuances or overall conceptual changers until a final point of view, so to speak, is arrived at. Moravec works partly in the reverse. He begins his studies as we all do at a measured pace making as far as possible no technical errors, and daily increasing his practice tempo until it is somewhat faster than the very fastest tempo he would be anticipate using in performance. Since he always learns to play a piece at a faster tempo than he would be required to play it in public, he has the reserve to compensate for the vagaries of piano actions and the human spirit.
The interpretative side of his study is perhaps even more interesting in that at the beginning he embodies his performance with every possible retard, accelerando, forte, piano, crescendo, diminuendo, pedal effect, etc. The whole spectrum of interpretative nuance is lavishly applied at the start. These practice sessions are daily recorded on a tape recorder and listened to by Mr. Moravec in the quiet hours of evening in his home. Each day he eliminates a retard, a sforzando, an unnecessary crescendo or rubato until the kaleidoscope of ideas he has begun with takes the leanest possible shape consistent with his intent. Thus it is a paring down process rather than an adding on. It may not be a technique useful for everyone, but it works wonderfully here. Thus only when everything extraneous in terms of interpretative ideas has been eliminated is the piece considered ready for performance.
Working with Moravec has been one of the most fascinating experiences of my musical life and it is my hope that these records of highlights from his many great recordings will inspire further exploration on the part of the reader of these notes.
--E. Alan Silver
