Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1

On a cold winter day in 1989, I heard Ivan Moravec give a revelatory performance of this Brahms concerto with my hometown orchestra, the Hudson Valley Philharmonic The concerto has long been a favorite of mine, and I’ve heard many performances and almost every famous recording of it, along with quite a few not so famous. Yet I truly don’t think I had ever heard so powerfully poetic and overtly emotional a performance of the piece as Moravec gave that night. After the concert, Moravec told me he had just made a recording of the piece, and that he was very satisfied with it.

More than two years later, that recording has finally come along, and it is just as satisfying as the performance I heard, Although he has all the technique in the world, Moravec has no interest in making a display piece out of this concerto. He plays the famously difficult double octaves in the first movement with crushing, monumental power. yet there is no hint of showing off, just superlative execution of an emotional climax. The second movement is so intimate and personal it almost gives me the sensation of eavesdropping on something I wasn’t meant to overhear. (I got a similar feeling from Radu Lupu’s LP of the same conccrto, now on London 417 776-2, but Lupu’s playing of the outer movements was simply too sluggish to bear.) Here the orchestra under Belohlavek manges the very difficult feat of matching the soloist’s expression, wish some playing that is breathtakingly soft yet meaningful. On first hearing, the Rondo seemed a little underanimated (I had no such trouble with the more vivid situation of the live performance), but repeated listening reveals how Moravec integrates this movement into the whole of the work rather than letting it run away.

In short, I feel this recording reveals important aspects of Brahms’s music which I have not heard before. Many listeners love the expressive qualities of the Curzon/Szell performance (now a bargain on London 417641 -2), and I have finally warmed to this performance after years of finding it too restrained. But I feel Moravec exceeds Curzon’s accomplishment at both ends of the emotional spectrum, and that he has here given us a performance for the ages.

Belohlavek and the splendid orchestra second Moravec’s expressive intents nobly throughout the performance. Unfortunately, they are not quite as well treated by the recording engineers as Moravec. The piano tone is splendidly realistic and full, but there is sometimes a harsh edge to the string sound. Still, this is a performance that would be well worth hearing if it were dubbed from 78s, so I won’t worry too much about minor sonic deficiencies.

I can’t help wishing that Supraphon had talked Moravec into giving us more Brahms solo piano music as a bonus. He plays the one Intermezzo so beautifully that I am left wanting even more, Still, we do have an encore, and frankly I’d consider paying the price of a CD for even seven minutes of this kind of piano playing.

This is one of the greatest performances I have heard in my reviewing career, and it is urgently recommended. And here’s more good news: Moravec and Belohlavek recorded the Brahms Second Concerto at about the same time. I hope Supraphon doesn’t make us wait another two years for it.

Ivan Moravec's performance of this work is a revelation. Without slighting its exciting virtuoso elements, he makes the entire piece into a poetic statement of Brahms that proves far more moving than more standard interpretations. As Moravec plays, it's not only the slow movement that sings; the whole piece becomes an intensely emotional experience, showing us the fervent young composer as well as the conquering young virtuoso. With the powerful support of Jiri Belohlavek and the great orchestra, Moravec gives us a memorable Brahms experience that every lover of this great Concerto should hear.