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I revere this man's piano playing. The most beautiful playing I've ever heard is his Connoisseur recording of Chopin's Nocturnes. I think I have all his recorded playing, but I keep looking. I have yet to hear anything by him that isnt standards setting.
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I too am an admirer of Moravec. I just wish he had recorded more.
"Life without music is a mistake" (Nietzsche)
I like all of his records. The first one I ever bought was a used 45-rpm Connoisseur Society pressing of a Beethoven Sonata, and a Mozart Fantasy and Sonata. It was hardly a clean copy, but both the sound and the playing were extraordinary. Now I have most of his recordings and haven't found one that was boring or superficially played.
I don't know if you saw it. . .
Have you ever heard of Brian Cheney?
He was a great man. A musician and later in life, audio manufacturer [sort of like Joe Grado]. He also used to be quite active here. You may search for his many posts on this site.
Mr. Cheney had a long professional career in music, and thus he also posessed many, many stories and in-depth knowledge about music and musicians. I periodically urged him to write memoirs; if not, then to at least post here what he knew. After all, his generation was leaving us. HIS point of view, the experience in music if HIS generation, was fading away. Want to know about performance practice of the 1920s or 30s? Ask someone who was either there, or who learned at the knee and lap of someone who was.
AFAIK, he didn't pursue the former, and only rarely ventured the latter. Sadly, Brian has passed away.
Think about it. The year 1900 - historically - was a mere moment ago. And yet, we've already lost so much first hand information about it. That opens the door to all manner of professional fabricators of history to move in and - FABRICATE. Yes, they're otherwise known as HIPs.
I was a kid during the 1970s. It's only 2015, and already there're HIP mutterings starting about how music of that time was and should be performed. The 1970s!!! With that, the HIPppers are settin [yep - settin] to urinate on our collective shoe and tell us it's raining. Fortunately, I was there, and my memory is crystal clear.
So - I'm not saying anything about your lifespan, but it seems that you, like Mr. Cheney, may also have a cache of experience that you can share. I therefore resolutely urge you to collect, collate - and publish everything - yes EVERYTHING - you've experienced and that you know from your life in music which would be of value, interest, and applied to the greater good of humanity at large. We look to you, CL.
N. Thelman, SSI
My main RF and LF speakers are Brian's VMPS RM-2's, and I'm so sorry that the company was not able to continue after his death. It's interesting that those of us with a lot of posts here have somewhat of a legacy interest in this site staying afloat and operational. When I see some of my old posts I'd forgotten about, I'm sometimes surprised that they aren't too bad (some of them anyway - LOL!).
Anyway, as I mentioned in the post below, Brian and I were good friends during the final years of his life, and my wife and his wife still see each other for lunch every few months. The post below describes a visit Brian and Shirley made to our house a few years ago:
I knew Brian Cheney VERY well and attended his memorial service. I'll have more to say tomorrow - got to turn in now! ;-)
Chris I hadnt seen your post about his death.
Regarding Rubenstein. Rubinstein played the notes. Moravec played the music. Huge difference to me.
You actually knew him didn't you?
Yes I did - it started with my being one of the players in his master class. Over the years, I've tried to post some of the stories here that he told me in our later meetings. I can't remember if I've already posted this one, but, to set it up, you have to know that, unlike Sviatoslav Richter (who once said, "Take your piano as you take fate!"), Moravec was somewhat of a fanatic about having a good-sounding, reliable instrument at every one of his concerts. Moravec even carried piano technician's tools with him to ensure that he could fix (or at least improve) most problems that might arise with any of the pianos he had to perform on.
So Moravec was touring Russia (the Soviet Union as it was known then), and was scheduled to play in some out-of-the-way village. The actual venue was a building that also served as the local movie theater (not a good sign!). As Moravec was ushered in to check out the piano, he became horrified: here was a sleazy bar-room piano beyond all hope in its state of disrepair and unreliability! Even with his technician's tools, Moravec couldn't hope to get this piano into decent shape. So he told the manager, "I can't play on this piano - it's in too much of a state of disrepair." At that point, the manager became VERY indignant, and replied, "Well! I'll have you know that this piano was good enough for SVIATOSLAV RICHTER when he played here last week!"
;-)
.
That must have been amazing to know him. He is still my all time favorite recording artist in classical music. I just have one question and I am sure it will seem nuts but what is the proper pronunciation of his name? I hear so many say it as Morowitz. I have had some one from the Czech Republic tell me that it should be pronounced Moravek.
My Czech born grandfather's first name was Vicenc, pronounced Vincents. He became Vincent in the US. In Czech c = ts.
Chris - classic story. Thanks for posting.
I too enjoy the Connoisseur recording of Chopin's Nocturnes. Very good playing and good sonics.
How do you rate it compared to Arthur Rubinstein's recordings?
Cheers
Bill
Hi Bill, I don't have the Rubinstein, so I can't compare.
Take Care, Pat
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