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London,
Barry Millington's rating
Reader rating
Description: The internationally-acclaimed Czech pianist performs Mozart's Fantasia In C Minor, K 475 and works by Franck, Debussy and Chopin.
Phone: 0207935 2141
Website: www.wigmore-hall.org.uk
Email: boxoffice@wigmore-hall.org.uk
Trains: Tube: Bond Street/Oxford Circus 
Extra info: Party Hire, Food, Pub
The name Ivan Moravec is scarcely a household one, though it is held in high respect by executants and connoisseurs. The Czech pianist features in Philips's Great Pianists of the 20th Century series and he is described by New Grove as one of the finest Chopin interpreters of that century.
Even at nearly 77, he has not lost his appetite for strenuous programmes, as was shown by last night's recital of Mozart (Fantasia in C minor), César Franck (Prélude, Chorale et Fugue), Debussy Images and a Chopin group culminating in the Fourth Ballade in F minor. Whether such a workout can be considered wise is another matter: The big rolled chords of the Franck Chorale lacked bravura and nothing flowed easily - phrasing was lumpy, progress laboured in both the Franck and the Mozart - and there were memory lapses.
Moravec's tone has remained mellow - the Hommage a Rameau from the Debussy set had a lovely pearly quality - yet powerful reserves are available when needed. The forest of notes in the Chopin Ballade was impressively negotiated, even if little sense of shape or structure emerged. But with the main business out of the way, there was a transformation.
A witty, precisely articulated Haydn Presto proved a well-judged encore, as did a selection of three Mazurkas by Chopin: subtle of phrasing, pregnant with melancholy, touched with the magic of former years. Certainly good enough to earn a third star.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
