# Ivan Morevec - Nocturnes (Chopin)



## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Simply brilliant, my favorite cycle of the Nocturnes. After hearing these, I take back my vote for the Waltzes in my nocturnes vs waltzes chopin thread. 

This is so stunning!

:tiphat:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

For some strange reason his Brahms concertos are not my cup of tea.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Pugg said:


> For some strange reason his Brahms concertos are not my cup of tea.


I haven't heard those. Have you heard his Chopin?


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Captainnumber36 said:


> I haven't heard those. Have you heard his Chopin?


Not yet, see if the library have them for loan.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)




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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

That's very kind Captain but the sound on my computer is horrible, I do get the impression though and will call the library.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Captainnumber36 said:


> Simply brilliant, my favorite cycle of the Nocturnes. After hearing these, I take back my vote for the Waltzes in my nocturnes vs waltzes chopin thread.
> 
> This is so stunning!
> 
> :tiphat:


I used to love them, so I sympathise. It's beautifully executed and well recorded.

I'm much less happy with his interpretation decisions than I used to be. I particularly don't like his way of focussing on a melody in one voice, and treating all the other music as secondary.

Also, they're _sane_. What I find is that in some performances of these pieces (Sofronitsky, Ciani, Cortot, Pletnev, Richter, Pogorelich, Arrau live, maybe others) the nocturnes can sometimes appear to have a psychological dimension, they're so profoundly expressed, and that makes them more than just soothing to hear. Moravec doesn't really get that.

Relatedly, he plays the nocturnes as if they're _beautiful_, and mostly they are. But in some of the best nocturnes there are moments where the music potentially explodes! Op 48/1 is a famous example, where anthemic passages can seem to be juxtaposed with a musical representation of gunfire and bombs. Don't forget Poland was at war, Chopin was a patriot, and his music is partly "about" this. Some would say, I would say, that Moravec's approach doesn't do this aspect of the music justice.

All these problems - the romantic attitude to the voicing, the emphasis on beauty, the lack of psychology, means that his performance of my favourite nocturne - op 62 /1 - what he does, is, IMO, just not very good. That's a great disappointment for me.

But there's a lot to enjoy there, and when you're a bit tired they're a good set to relax to. The musical equivalent of a nice warm bath and a scented candle.

As far as waltzes v nocturnes go, there are performances which make them sound every bit as interesting to hear as the nocturnes IMO.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

maybe that's why I like it. I love warm baths and scented candles and just indulging my senses.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

I don't know Moravec's Chopin Nocturnes, though I will hunt them down. I find his Debussy renderings very enjoyable: not necessarily the most inventive, lacking the light and shade of Gieseking perhaps, but engaging none the less.


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## Holden4th (Jul 14, 2017)

The Moravec Nocturnes sit behind the three Rubinstein versions for me. What does stand out is the unaffected way he plays them which I suppose might be what Mandryka is referring to when he refers to them as being sane.


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## Heliogabo (Dec 29, 2014)

Great performance without doubt, absolutely beautiful and chopinesque. But my favorite on this is Samson François, because of his pathos with no equal.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I just wish we had all the Nocturnes performed by Ignaz Friedmann or Alfred Cortot:


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Captainnumber36 said:


> I haven't heard those. Have you heard his Chopin?


As soon as they come back from being with someone, I am getting a call from my library, report later.


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## johankillen (Sep 20, 2015)

I'm listening now and this is for sure good things. Thanks!


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## Page (Aug 8, 2017)

I like the opus 62 n°1 and also the posthume opus by Ciccolini who recorded the cycle of Noctunes :










Great delicacy and admirable musical phrasing.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

johankillen said:


> I'm listening now and this is for sure good things. Thanks!


Glad you love it!


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## isorhythm (Jan 2, 2015)

They're my favorite version taken as a whole too, though I might like someone else's version of one nocturne or another better. I'll certainly take Moravec over Rubinstein any day. I don't generally see "too smooth" or "too beautiful" as a criticism with this particular music.

The one weakness for me is in the later nocturnes with the intricate counterpoint. He doesn't do much with that. There's a passage with imitative counterpoint in op. 62 no. 2, resulting in some surprising dissonances, that you can't hear at all with Moravec, for example.


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

Captainnumber36 said:


> Simply brilliant, my favorite cycle of the Nocturnes. After hearing these, I take back my vote for the Waltzes in my nocturnes vs waltzes chopin thread.
> 
> This is so stunning!
> 
> :tiphat:


I agree entirely. In my days as a vinyl record collector, I came across the Moravec Chopin LPs on the Connoisseur Society label often, either individually or as a box set. His Nocturnes are a highlight, in my opinion. But another Moravec LP I picked up from for pennies a thrift shop was an equally great revelation:







I'm sure you can find it as a CD or download.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Ivan Moravec was one of the finest interpreters of Chopin and Debussy.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Captainnumber36 said:


> I haven't heard those. Have you heard his Chopin?


I can pick them up from today, so will report soon.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

Pugg said:


> I can pick them up from today, so will report soon.


Awesome Pugg!


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

I picked this 4 disc set up a while back. I also have his Nocturnes (and given them as gifts).


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