November 5, 2001
Contact:
Sarah Ray
802-443-5794
sray@middlebury.edu
Posted: November 5, 2001
MIDDLEBURY,
VT - Distinguished
pianist Ivan Moravec, acclaimed as one of the great
recitalists of our time, will visit Middlebury College for
an afternoon concert on Sunday, Nov. 18, at 3 p.m. in the
Concert Hall at the Center for the Arts on South Main Street
(Route 30).
The Czech
masters program for the concert will be Chopins
“Eight Mazurkas and Fantaisie in F Minor, Opus 49;”
Janáceks Sonata der Strasse: I-X;
and Debussys La Soirée dans
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A native of
Prague who is now in his early 70s, Moravec has played
American venues since 1964. He has performed with most of
Americas major orchestras and symphonies in New York,
Boston, Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, Toronto and
Philadelphia, to name a few. He has been welcomed in the
music capitals of the world, including London, Vienna,
Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, Munich, Rome, Sydney and
Amsterdam.
Audiences
have also enjoyed Ѵǰ talent in solo and festival
performances around the world. He has produced a library of
recordings on a host of labels, including Vox, Moss Music
and Connoisseur Society. The most critically acclaimed have
been his interpretations of Chopin, Debussy, Beethoven,
Brahms and Mozart.
Despite his
long resume and accomplishments, Moravec has often toiled in
relative obscurity, away from the glare of marketing and
stardom. So suggested a reviewer from Music Web UK, who last
year wrote about Moravec following a recital at
Londons Queen Elizabeth Hall: “He belongs to a dying
breed of pianists, who devote their entire life to their
instrument as well as to teaching. His self-criticism is
well known and it can take years until he presents his
interpretation of a specific work to an audience. The result
&Բ;ܱپٱ&Բ;ڱپDz.”
Critics of
Ѵǰ work dont hesitate to label him a
virtuoso. Piano Magazine lauded a Moravec recording of
Chopin, Debussy, Franck and Ravel in 1999 saying that “what
makes his playing most memorable
is his searching
musicianship, complemented by an eloquent sophistication of
phrase which makes many of his more famous colleagues
پ&Բ;&Բ;dz貹Dz.”
The critics
say Ѵǰ technique and its results set him apart
as a great interpreter of the masters such as Chopin and
Debussy. “The sound he produces on a piano, for instance, is
deep, free, consistently beautiful,” wrote the Toronto Globe
& Mail last year. “Theres no one else like
.”
Ѵǰ
concert is sponsored by the Middlebury College Performing
Arts Series. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $8
for seniors. A pre-performance brunch begins at 1:30 p.m. at
Rehearsals Cafe in the Center for the Arts. For tickets or
brunch reservations, call the College Box Office at
802-443-6433.