A Schumann Concerto full of insight and a Brahms First that just misses the mark. Both recordings were taped live in the Eugene McDermott Hall at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas. Sound-wise, it's an exceedingly handsome production, with a luminous orchestral backdrop (the strings are particularly glowing), a cleanly focused piano tone and very little in the way of audible audience presence.
Ivan Moravec, the distinguished Czech-born pianist who performed in Milos Forman's film of Amadeus, has recorded both works before, his Supraphon version of the Schumann (under Vaclav Neumann) having achieved something of a cultstatus, at least in America. Here his playing is bright, intelligent and full of affectionate 'old world' devices, such as holding fractionally behind the beat, employing quietly individualistic rubato, lavishing occasional attention on accompanying figures, and so on. Furthermore, Mata supports him warmly, as a sampling from 11'22'' into the first movement of the Brahms—where his cellos engage Moravec in affectionate dialogue—makes abundantly clear. The Adagio, too, is deeply poetic, although some might find it lingers a little too freely. Still, taken as a whole, the performance doesn't quite amount to the sum of its parts. Moravec sometimes indulges the moment at the expense of the whole; exquisite details notwithstanding (and there are plenty of them), it relies more on incident than on a broadly symphonic overview. And this particular concerto needs both architectural grandeur and internal mobility.
The Schumann is again chock-full of finely sculpted detail: sampling either 0'47'' or 5'03'' into the first movement provides evidence of Moravec's perceptive musicianship and pianistic finesse, qualities that pertain throughout. The opening of the Intermezzo is limpid, the closing Allegro vivace lifts off the page with an appealing lilt, and Mata again proves a sympathetic accompanist. The disc opens and closes with applause, as well it should, given the quality of the playing. Of the two performances, the Schumann will surely prove the more durable; I'm not convinced that the Brahms will respond to repeated hearings, although piano aficionados will doubtless learn much from it.'