Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Ivan Moravec (1930-2015)


Ivan Moravec, the eminent Czech pianist fondly remembered in Richmond for his performances in 1994 and 2001 at Virginia Commonwealth University, has died at the age of 84. He had been in semi-retirement from concert activities in recent years.

A onetime protégé of Arturo Benedetti Michaelangelo, Moravec was as well-known for his performances of Chopin and French repertory as he was for Czech music. After his US debut in the 1960s and first recordings in the ’70s, Moravec became known on this side of the Atlantic as “the poet of the piano.”

An obituary in the Prague Post:

http://www.praguepost.com/czech-news/49028-monday-news-briefing-july-27-2015

A more extensive obituary, in The Telegraph (UK):

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11768306/Ivan-Moravec-concert-pianist-obituary.html

And an obituary by Sam Roberts for The New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/31/arts/music/ivan-moravec-pianist-specialized-in-chopin-dies-at-84.html