Janáček's "In the Mists" - Ivan Moravec (1982)

Leoš Janáček (1854-1928)
In the Mists (1912)
I. Andante
II. Molto adagio
III. Andantino
IV. Presto
Ivan Moravec (1930-2015), piano
Producer: Max Wilcox
Engineer: Max Wilcox
Recorded at RCA Studio A, New York in 3.1982
Piano: Hamburg Steinway

"The admirers of Ivan Moravec seem to be growing from a minor cult into a near-political movement, and Sunday afternoon at Carnegie Hall they rallied together to relish their favorite pianist's art.

Mr. Moravec, a Czechoslovak, has skirted the edges of fame for the last generation, and now he seems to be consolidating a vocal and rabid audience all his own. He is, in looks and style, not a heroic leader - diffident, balding, 50-ish in appearance and playing with a fastidiousness of detail and elegant sense of pianistic color that lend themselves more to quiet introspection than to a flamboyant hard sell.

Such elegance was perfect for Janacek's four-movement "In the Mist". The enigmatic beauty of this music seemed to dart out at us in short bursts of eloquence and then disappear back into the mist of its title. Mr. Moravec had a way of creating shimmering foggy sounds that the were nevertheless sorted out with pinpoint clarity."

Bernard Holland, NY Times
Oct. 26, 1982

Painting: Jakub Schikaneder, Evening In Hradčany (1913)