Yes, it is very clever to play this fast...maybe. But is it doing the best for the interpretation of Chopin? I doubt it. It is mainly for show. There are mistakes and missed notes and a general blurriness and lack of clarity. Note spinning is not my idea of music. Everything an artist does should have a musical reason. The middle section is not much less boring either.
That is so untrue anyone who can B E A R to listen to SCHNABEL would prolly not like the repertoire of a Hofmann. Schnabel is the messiest pianist I have ever heard B U T his Beethoven playing is some of the most vital and alive I have ever heard. Only Kovacevich ,Goode Sherman outdo him.Actually everyone plays better - just his musicality is really apparent and this is why he stands alone in his Beethoven.His Brahms is an embarrasment!
This is what RACHMANINOFF himself said about this Giant Pianist,.,.
After hearing a performance of Chopin's B minor Sonata by Hofmann, Rachmaninoff cut that piece from his own repertoire saying "not since Anton Rubinstein have I heard such titanic playing"
I think this is always played too fast. Pianists should 'Knarl' their way through it. Horowitz in his last recording does it sort of the way I would If I coud. But I can't and so I am sad.
Well, I have it twice on CD: one was taken from a recital he gave in Bregenz, Jan. 15th 1988 (Aura Music AUR 206-2) and the other one from a recital in London, May 10th 1990 (also on Aura: 227-2 and 431-2 + on Ermitage ERM 432-2).
This comes close to the Horowitz recording of this piece.
Hofmann was a very interesting pianist. all these wonderful recordings on youtube, its a world heritage which is accessible here on youtube. This was the best invention ever done to make music acessible for all. Not everything is uploaded yet but there is already a lot....
I thik the wounded lion growl we hear often in horowitz must have been something he learned from listening to AntonR.I doubt Anton ever showed anything .His students had to think for themselves.would love to hear some of the other students Siloti left not representative.did Tchaikovsky study piano or comp with Anton.anyway the left hand and textures is formidable and so clear '23.the personality here is unlike anything.
Lang Lang happens to be the greatest pianist alive today. So of course he's famous...
And he's far better then this oldie. But I'm not saying this guy ain't good. Just not world class for now a days standard. The bar has been raised by the Asians!
right, all this is a matter of taste and culture, if Lang Lang is the greatest piaist for you, I see no possibility to share any opinion with you anymore.
The piece consists of several sections that are repeated many times verbatim. After the opening chords, for example, there is a 16 bar phrase that Chopin wants played 6 times - H plays it 4. The main section of the lullaby, also 16 bars, was meant to be played 3 times - H plays it twice. The editing is OK, but drastic - maybe a limit set by recording.
Artur Rubenstein called these types of outbursts in Hofmann's playing 'Extramusical and perverted.' Guess that's why, when I listen to many of Rubenstein's studio recordings I get the feeling that he was sleepwalking. Hofmann was so great and at his zenith in cocert settings. We have no players today that even approximate the sponteneity, electricity and improvisational life of these live Hofmann performances. The studio performances sound so tame in comparison, but also fabulous nontheless.
I think Hofmann's version is in its own league. Most of his recordings were, despite the fact that many (from his prime especially, but even some from when he was an old alky lol) were on piano rolls and much of his phrasing and almost subliminal nuances are lost in translation.
He senses the beat falling every other bar, as opposed to other pianists that sense it at every bar. He brings out new ideas in the structure this way: measures that otherwise would have little function in the phrase are now serving as pick-ups, or have other meaning. Quite brilliant. He does the same thing in the recording of Moonlight Sonata: the fastest recording of the slow movement I've heard, and by far the most sensible and meaningful.
Listen to this and remember that Hofmann was a student of the great Anton Rubinstein, whose only rival was Franz Liszt himself! A fascinating document of 19th century pianistic tradition
I doubt if Rubinstein was ever a rival of Liszt as a performer. Liszt retired as a performing virtuoso in 1947, by which Rubinstein had barely begun his performing career as a virtuoso. By most accounts, Liszt's closest performing rival was Thalberg while Rubinstein's was Tausig, who died a tragically early death - Carla Schuman preferred Tausig over Rubistein. Rubinstein does rival Liszt in the fame attained as an awe-inspiring performer.
I didn't mean that Rubinstein was a rival of Liszt in the literal sense; they were not exact contemporaries anyway.
I meant that they were rivals in the extent of their reputations as super-virtuosi in the 19th century. I think you're a bit off--Liszt couldn't have retired in 1947 since he died in 1883--and it's Clara SchumanN, not Carla Schuman (unless you're referring to someone I never heard of).
Regrettably, I commit several typos. I meant 1847 and Clara Schumann. Does anyone know if Hofmann ever met Liszt? He started performing extensively as a child prodigy since 1880, after all.
No one had the left hand that Hofmann had...incredible ability to phrase with strength and clarity. If this recording were modern, I'm sure many of the commentators here would change their minds.
I completely agree. As bad as the recording quality is, the left hand is still requires many superlatives to describe. Hofmann is the only the pianist that showed that Chopin can be played fast!
Didn't Hofmann believe that others played it too slow? He was know for disliking "right handed pianists" who weren't able to bring out the beauty of the left hand of the score. Unfortunately (or necessarily) he adjusted the dynamics of his playing to suit the limits of acoustic recording.
It is fluid but more like in a Bach way, like a conveyer belt. I hear no flexibility in his rhythm and tone which is not my taste. Others seem to like this "clean approach", others don't. Ok. I see no point of getting political when it comes to music.
none of u will ever hear as exciting a mind, technical mechanism, approach,musicianly or bad judgement as this collossalHofmann.I listen to Hofmann and Rachmaninoff gets amazing sounds but he plays everything like its rach.Godowsky and Sauer,Rosenthal left fantastic recordings.Hofmann left the most amazing recs EVER. Moisewitsch and Horowitz are phenoms but This man had it all. his fourth ballade and g minor this too is bewond understanding . leave lang and li alonedumb bitches!
This playing is very "fluid", actually there is few can play as fluid as him. His interpretation of this piece is very different from other pianists and from the usual way of playing this piece, but it doesn't make this performance bad. He really shows the different possibilities of one piece can be played.
he is much to rigid and stale for me. I like a more "fluid" Chopin, although I am aware that this is a Scherzo and shoul dhave certain rythmical jerks.
there are obviously different ways to to be "fluid". who are you to be the judge to say which is the correct way? This sounds more like a constant machine running, as opposed to say water flowing. and yes, a river is not always smooth, there can be obstacles in the way that make the route a bit jerky. that is what I meant - there is obviously as little flexibility in your mind as is in this piece.
hmm. then i'll be open minded. I am NOT the judge as to what fluid is. I am the judge to my own opinion. You are the judge to your own opinion, and what you say about fluidity made more sense when i read your comment that said "clean approach". so's that mean you like Rubenstein as opposed to Josef?
PS Josef has a "crashing" left hand which i like and i find lacking in almost all other players (Horowitz and Rach excluded).
You're rigth. In the Glenn Plaskin Horowitz Biography, it's is said that when Horowitz was a child in "Ukraine", he goes to listen Hoffmann. He was his first piano Idol.
I am black and i have read hofmann letters and essays.He disliked Jazz and makes comments hat show ghe was a racist. Get over it he was a jew left his first wife and hurt his Curtis familyand was a serious alkie.I have loved him since i first discovered his live recitals.NOONE not Rach nor hofmann ever had what he had.his recs not so very wonderful but their r thigs intone prodand pedals noone could do.the Met is UNBELEIVABLE MIND AND PLAYING !
Who cares? Jazz is nothing in the face of true artistry. I don't like it when people try to even mention 'Jazz' as a form of art comparable to the excellence we find in the previous centuries.
Racism aside, Hofmann is correct about his approach towards Jazz.
Dear LovesGenet, Hofmann wasn't Jewish. He was one of the relatively small minority among the legendary pianists, in fact, who weren't. By the way I'm confused about "NO ONE, not Rach nor Hofmann..." Did you mean "nor Horowitz"? I thought Hofmann was the pianist you were talking about in the first place. Did I miss an earlier comment?? >> Paul Miller
It would appear from known information that Hofmann was ethnically Polish, just like Paderewski. According to Grove's, Hofmann's real last name was Wyszkowski, which is about as Polish as you can get. But somehow this got changed to Hofmann, which sounds German, and sometimes (in other spellings at least, like Hofman or Hoffman) can be Jewish. May have had something to do with the part of Poland Hofmann came from, Austrian Galicia ( city of Krakau/Krakow/Cracow)
newton: So what? Even if he was racist, the music is not. Pure music can never be affected by personal beliefs or ideaologies. It can only represent the basic human emotions that everyone goes through.
NGS712:I strongly disagree with you.If he was a racist than it was for him impossible to teach afro-american or jewish pianists or to play for them and that's very sad.
go9zu: You misunderstood me. Even if Hofmann was racist, the music that he plays is not. As I said a person's personal ideas cannot affect the music they play.
NGS712:I think we have to clarify for what we are talking about.Are we talking about the music or about th person?I can't accept that a musician,an artist can be a racist,that's my point (and I am not the only one,who believes that).It's a shame!BTW I love your favorites (specialy the videos about the great painters).
go9zu: Believe me I don't accept racism either. However Hofmann is long dead and plus I never heard about him being racist. I was just replying to the person who wrote 'Sadly Hofmann was a racist'. I just didn't see how that mattered as far as this vid. Even if he was racist, that doesn't mean that his skills are less extraordinary or that the music is less beautiful. Thanks for the compliment, btw.
Since he was closer to Chopin's time than us, I regard his as more authoritative. I would like to say that modern pianists are excessively unrushed. Most recordings are recorded "safely". These guys played it without much regard for safety and that is why people gravitate to these old recordings.
Hofman's variety and shading of sound even here with old equip just incredible. Never has the humor and tragedy been more apparent. The greatest allaround pianist ever recorded Sauer and Rosenthal on my list to.But I really never care for his conceptions the first time i hear them some time.The solidity of every utterance is still astounding. This man confounds everone who hears these old recs.
I agree with you about Hoffman even most fellow pianists praise him. First time I ever heard Sauer and Rosenthal mentioned on music posts. Sauer's recording of Liszt's piano concerto #1 is magnificent. Rosenthal's performance of Chopin's Nocturne Op 27 #2 is one of my favorites.
I particpate in some other music sites and it seems if someone praises a performance recorded before the biofonic recording era I am labeled a dinosaur.
i would say that this is a little rushed for the pianist; not because of the tempo (which is good) but because of the fact that this piece needs more power.
It does not feel rushed, it feels exhilarating. Most pianists of Hofmann's generation played these faster tempi; they knew how to hold a structure together and let the music flow.
@snaaptaker why do people say tempi rather than tempos? we say arpeggios, concertos, allegros and so forth. Who decided to use the italian plural for just tempo?
@pianofolle I think you might need to read my comment again. My question is why do people insist on using the italian pluralisation on only one italian word, and use an anglicised pluralisation on the rest. I'm well aware that the italian words are italian, and I didn't say anything about being disgusted.
@proszel Oh i see now...actually you were for consistency in using the plural. Sorry, I misunderstood and thought you 'only' wanted the '-os' plural !
He has wonderful articulation and great leaps with the left hand, but the whole thing feels rushed, especially the B major section. I really liked his coda, and his chromatic octaves. crazy speed! : )
Yes, it is very clever to play this fast...maybe. But is it doing the best for the interpretation of Chopin? I doubt it. It is mainly for show. There are mistakes and missed notes and a general blurriness and lack of clarity. Note spinning is not my idea of music. Everything an artist does should have a musical reason. The middle section is not much less boring either.
cynic150 5 months ago
An amazing performance.
gerardbedecarter 8 months ago
Rachmaninoff once stated that he should practice for 15 hours every day in order to reach the level of Hofmann's virtuosity !
...And he did so !
The55555SSSSS 1 year ago 2
That is so untrue anyone who can B E A R to listen to SCHNABEL would prolly not like the repertoire of a Hofmann. Schnabel is the messiest pianist I have ever heard B U T his Beethoven playing is some of the most vital and alive I have ever heard. Only Kovacevich ,Goode Sherman outdo him.Actually everyone plays better - just his musicality is really apparent and this is why he stands alone in his Beethoven.His Brahms is an embarrasment!
lovesGenet 1 year ago
This is what RACHMANINOFF himself said about this Giant Pianist,.,.
After hearing a performance of Chopin's B minor Sonata by Hofmann, Rachmaninoff cut that piece from his own repertoire saying "not since Anton Rubinstein have I heard such titanic playing"
bazzatt1 1 year ago
@bazzatt1 And Hofmann studied with Rubinstein. God help us, this is now a lost art.
malbamope 7 months ago
@bazzatt1 titanic for sure...wow.
Perseus12345678 5 months ago
Re:Geertdehoux. You say 1988 and 1990 Hofmann would have been lond dead.
TheCourtwick 1 year ago
@TheCourtwick
? ? ?
geertdehoux 1 year ago
Hofmann=Richter(for me^^)
loboris1995 1 year ago
@loboris1995
Hofmann was not Richter.
geertdehoux 1 year ago
@geertdehoux
no wasn't ,.,.was better,.
Go read what rachmaninoff,anton rubinstein,Godowsky and Richter said about this Giant,.,. on wikipedia.
bazzatt1 1 year ago
I think this is always played too fast. Pianists should 'Knarl' their way through it. Horowitz in his last recording does it sort of the way I would If I coud. But I can't and so I am sad.
aardvaark069 1 year ago
@aardvaark069
Don't be sad...
There are worse things in this world...!!
G. Dehoux.
geertdehoux 1 year ago
The most beautiful! left hand and voicing is outstanding! hofmann had been one of the greatest in history if not t h e greatest.
klausknulp 1 year ago
I always wonder WHY this Scherzo (which was written in 3/4 and not in 1) is always played SO FAST ?!!
One pianist didn't follow this 'tradition' and that was the great Michelangeli: with him we clearly hear 3/4!
Is this important ? For me, it is.
Cordially,
Geert Dehoux, pianist.
geertdehoux 1 year ago
@geertdehoux did Michelangeli really play this piece? I mean, in public?! I thought he only had the 2nd scherzo in his concert repertoire...
Barbapippo 1 year ago
@Barbapippo
Well, I have it twice on CD: one was taken from a recital he gave in Bregenz, Jan. 15th 1988 (Aura Music AUR 206-2) and the other one from a recital in London, May 10th 1990 (also on Aura: 227-2 and 431-2 + on Ermitage ERM 432-2).
Hope this information will serve you.
Greetings,
Geert Dehoux.
geertdehoux 1 year ago
This comes close to the Horowitz recording of this piece.
Hofmann was a very interesting pianist. all these wonderful recordings on youtube, its a world heritage which is accessible here on youtube. This was the best invention ever done to make music acessible for all. Not everything is uploaded yet but there is already a lot....
uhartchristian 2 years ago
I thik the wounded lion growl we hear often in horowitz must have been something he learned from listening to AntonR.I doubt Anton ever showed anything .His students had to think for themselves.would love to hear some of the other students Siloti left not representative.did Tchaikovsky study piano or comp with Anton.anyway the left hand and textures is formidable and so clear '23.the personality here is unlike anything.
lovesGenet 2 years ago
His hands are far too small for piano! He should have learned the violin instead. But he's still a good pianist despite his physical inadequacy.
brassmonkeyjew 2 years ago
he is not good, he is phenomenal, he had no any physical inadequacy. Some ppl have too small brains to comment.
arwena55 2 years ago 3
@arwena55
If he was so "phenomenal" then why isn't he remembered...
brassmonkeyjew 2 years ago
You mean he is not famous, well Lang Lang is famous nowadays, lol...... oh, and Rubinstein, this one always. Answer yourself the question you asked.
arwena55 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
@arwena55
Lang Lang happens to be the greatest pianist alive today. So of course he's famous...
And he's far better then this oldie. But I'm not saying this guy ain't good. Just not world class for now a days standard. The bar has been raised by the Asians!
brassmonkeyjew 2 years ago
right, all this is a matter of taste and culture, if Lang Lang is the greatest piaist for you, I see no possibility to share any opinion with you anymore.
arwena55 2 years ago 7
@arwena55
I know you are but what am i :)
brassmonkeyjew 1 year ago
@brassmonkeyjew
You know I am but what are you? :)?? are you mysterious?
arwena55 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@arwena55
I know one thing... LANG LANG IS THE BEST AND HOFMANN SUCKS IT!
brassmonkeyjew 1 year ago
@brassmonkeyjew
Thank God I have this comfort not to care what you know or think and your last comment is primitive truly saying and ....that's all.
arwena55 1 year ago
@brassmonkeyjew hahahaha.......
GTD13447 1 year ago
incredible....
nikolaimedtner 2 years ago 11
"duration of 5 min and almost all are about 9?"
The piece consists of several sections that are repeated many times verbatim. After the opening chords, for example, there is a 16 bar phrase that Chopin wants played 6 times - H plays it 4. The main section of the lullaby, also 16 bars, was meant to be played 3 times - H plays it twice. The editing is OK, but drastic - maybe a limit set by recording.
"Listen to the power in his left at 1:09"
The "growl" is nice, but not in the score.
jimczajka 2 years ago 4
Artur Rubenstein called these types of outbursts in Hofmann's playing 'Extramusical and perverted.' Guess that's why, when I listen to many of Rubenstein's studio recordings I get the feeling that he was sleepwalking. Hofmann was so great and at his zenith in cocert settings. We have no players today that even approximate the sponteneity, electricity and improvisational life of these live Hofmann performances. The studio performances sound so tame in comparison, but also fabulous nontheless.
aardvaark069 2 years ago
This is a studio recording.
alextierno98 2 years ago
Yes, I know. I can only imagine how it would sound in concert with Hofmann at the keyboard.
aardvaark069 2 years ago
Why this interpretation has a duration of 5 minutes and almost all are about 9 min?
guillermopv90 2 years ago
superb!!!
kempff95 2 years ago
Anton Rubinstein called Hofmann a musical phenomenon, no wonder why.
arwena55 2 years ago 3
Listen to the power in his left at 1:09, for example...just...Lol.
BloodyLovin 2 years ago 2
Yes, like a lion's growl. Hofmann trademark.
alextierno98 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
I think Hofmann's version is in its own league. Most of his recordings were, despite the fact that many (from his prime especially, but even some from when he was an old alky lol) were on piano rolls and much of his phrasing and almost subliminal nuances are lost in translation.
BloodyLovin 2 years ago
Anyone who cares who the best player is will die alone. Alone, and dead.
Calyton21 2 years ago
He senses the beat falling every other bar, as opposed to other pianists that sense it at every bar. He brings out new ideas in the structure this way: measures that otherwise would have little function in the phrase are now serving as pick-ups, or have other meaning. Quite brilliant. He does the same thing in the recording of Moonlight Sonata: the fastest recording of the slow movement I've heard, and by far the most sensible and meaningful.
maddpianist 3 years ago 5
i dont like this version i preffer the arrau performance
delarus 3 years ago
Listen to this and remember that Hofmann was a student of the great Anton Rubinstein, whose only rival was Franz Liszt himself! A fascinating document of 19th century pianistic tradition
soami2u 3 years ago
I doubt if Rubinstein was ever a rival of Liszt as a performer. Liszt retired as a performing virtuoso in 1947, by which Rubinstein had barely begun his performing career as a virtuoso. By most accounts, Liszt's closest performing rival was Thalberg while Rubinstein's was Tausig, who died a tragically early death - Carla Schuman preferred Tausig over Rubistein. Rubinstein does rival Liszt in the fame attained as an awe-inspiring performer.
alextierno98 3 years ago
I didn't mean that Rubinstein was a rival of Liszt in the literal sense; they were not exact contemporaries anyway.
I meant that they were rivals in the extent of their reputations as super-virtuosi in the 19th century. I think you're a bit off--Liszt couldn't have retired in 1947 since he died in 1883--and it's Clara SchumanN, not Carla Schuman (unless you're referring to someone I never heard of).
soami2u 3 years ago
Regrettably, I commit several typos. I meant 1847 and Clara Schumann. Does anyone know if Hofmann ever met Liszt? He started performing extensively as a child prodigy since 1880, after all.
alextierno98 3 years ago
Franz Liszt died July 31st at roughly 2am in 1887, please!!!!! Not 1883.
HerrNollie 2 years ago
According to Baker's we're both wrong...Liszt died near Bayreuth on July 31, 1886
soami2u 2 years ago 3
1886!!!
voolare 2 years ago
WTF !!!!! liszt was dead in 1947!!!! are you talking about arthur or anton rubinstein????
Laphonse 2 years ago
Anton and Arthur Rubinstein are 2 different performers. Anton died in 1894, and was a rival of Liszt.
EuphoricDan 2 years ago 3
i like the sudden VI chord at 1:36
callenishss 3 years ago
The bit beginning at 1:48 is actually based on an old Polish Christmas carol, "Lulajże Jezuniu".
weikko79 3 years ago
géantissime
istreba 3 years ago
Oh my God that was excellent!
Musicman180 3 years ago
No one had the left hand that Hofmann had...incredible ability to phrase with strength and clarity. If this recording were modern, I'm sure many of the commentators here would change their minds.
bsarweh1969 3 years ago
I completely agree. As bad as the recording quality is, the left hand is still requires many superlatives to describe. Hofmann is the only the pianist that showed that Chopin can be played fast!
RabidCh 3 years ago
Friedman too
RabidCh 3 years ago
Didn't Hofmann believe that others played it too slow? He was know for disliking "right handed pianists" who weren't able to bring out the beauty of the left hand of the score. Unfortunately (or necessarily) he adjusted the dynamics of his playing to suit the limits of acoustic recording.
danandjohn 3 years ago
J'aime bien lire les avis négatifs parce que cela me donne l'envie de dire à Dieu que sa barbe est mal taillée et qu'il doit changer de barbier!
antoinezygfryd 3 years ago
It is fluid but more like in a Bach way, like a conveyer belt. I hear no flexibility in his rhythm and tone which is not my taste. Others seem to like this "clean approach", others don't. Ok. I see no point of getting political when it comes to music.
Nataliena 3 years ago
none of u will ever hear as exciting a mind, technical mechanism, approach,musicianly or bad judgement as this collossalHofmann.I listen to Hofmann and Rachmaninoff gets amazing sounds but he plays everything like its rach.Godowsky and Sauer,Rosenthal left fantastic recordings.Hofmann left the most amazing recs EVER. Moisewitsch and Horowitz are phenoms but This man had it all. his fourth ballade and g minor this too is bewond understanding . leave lang and li alonedumb bitches!
lovesGenet 3 years ago
nothing wrong with everything sounding "Rach" if YOU are Rach haha. and yes, lang lang is not exactly up to snuff IMO either.
i wish he had Liszt recordings! he died just before they had em. damnit.
Tho this man Hofmann, I like!
SCHneiDen777 3 years ago
He skipped the theme twice... what the hell. :(
Doesn`t sound bad but it`s not what Chopin wrote on paper...
btajick 3 years ago
This playing is very "fluid", actually there is few can play as fluid as him. His interpretation of this piece is very different from other pianists and from the usual way of playing this piece, but it doesn't make this performance bad. He really shows the different possibilities of one piece can be played.
themusicseeker 3 years ago
This is an unbelievable performance! One of the best I heard.
themusicseeker 3 years ago
I agree, this is very stale.
americanchopin 3 years ago
he is much to rigid and stale for me. I like a more "fluid" Chopin, although I am aware that this is a Scherzo and shoul dhave certain rythmical jerks.
Nataliena 3 years ago
listen to yourself: "I like more "fluid" Chopin, but it should have jerks". what?! make up your mind woman.
this IS fluid chopin. listen to it nowadays, and it is wanna-be-fluid-Chopin.
SCHneiDen777 3 years ago
there are obviously different ways to to be "fluid". who are you to be the judge to say which is the correct way? This sounds more like a constant machine running, as opposed to say water flowing. and yes, a river is not always smooth, there can be obstacles in the way that make the route a bit jerky. that is what I meant - there is obviously as little flexibility in your mind as is in this piece.
Nataliena 3 years ago
hmm. then i'll be open minded. I am NOT the judge as to what fluid is. I am the judge to my own opinion. You are the judge to your own opinion, and what you say about fluidity made more sense when i read your comment that said "clean approach". so's that mean you like Rubenstein as opposed to Josef?
PS Josef has a "crashing" left hand which i like and i find lacking in almost all other players (Horowitz and Rach excluded).
SCHneiDen777 3 years ago
is this how its supposed to be played, cus yundis sounds completely different, especailly in the beggining
penguinshin 3 years ago
This is the best rendition of the scherzo I've ever heard! Brilliant!
NuclearTide 3 years ago 3
If you wonder where Horowitz was coming from. Just Listen to Hoffmann.
CoolWJL 4 years ago
CoolWJL, you are 100% correct. I've known this for many years and you're the first person I've found who realizes it. Congratulations!!
I have always felt that Horowitz really wanted to be Hofmann. Of course, he was not.
snaaptaker 4 years ago
You're rigth. In the Glenn Plaskin Horowitz Biography, it's is said that when Horowitz was a child in "Ukraine", he goes to listen Hoffmann. He was his first piano Idol.
rhadamanthes82 3 years ago
I am black and i have read hofmann letters and essays.He disliked Jazz and makes comments hat show ghe was a racist. Get over it he was a jew left his first wife and hurt his Curtis familyand was a serious alkie.I have loved him since i first discovered his live recitals.NOONE not Rach nor hofmann ever had what he had.his recs not so very wonderful but their r thigs intone prodand pedals noone could do.the Met is UNBELEIVABLE MIND AND PLAYING !
lovesGenet 4 years ago
Who cares? Jazz is nothing in the face of true artistry. I don't like it when people try to even mention 'Jazz' as a form of art comparable to the excellence we find in the previous centuries.
Racism aside, Hofmann is correct about his approach towards Jazz.
sab3156 3 years ago
If you think this is jazz, you need to get an education and half a brain.
ZaMRai 3 years ago 3
Dear LovesGenet, Hofmann wasn't Jewish. He was one of the relatively small minority among the legendary pianists, in fact, who weren't. By the way I'm confused about "NO ONE, not Rach nor Hofmann..." Did you mean "nor Horowitz"? I thought Hofmann was the pianist you were talking about in the first place. Did I miss an earlier comment?? >> Paul Miller
forlino2 3 years ago
Neuhaus also wasn't a Jew...or Sviatoslav Richter. How about Arrau? Or Liszt? Or...
weikko79 3 years ago
It would appear from known information that Hofmann was ethnically Polish, just like Paderewski. According to Grove's, Hofmann's real last name was Wyszkowski, which is about as Polish as you can get. But somehow this got changed to Hofmann, which sounds German, and sometimes (in other spellings at least, like Hofman or Hoffman) can be Jewish. May have had something to do with the part of Poland Hofmann came from, Austrian Galicia ( city of Krakau/Krakow/Cracow)
soami2u 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Sadly Hofmann was a racist
newton2060 4 years ago
newton: So what? Even if he was racist, the music is not. Pure music can never be affected by personal beliefs or ideaologies. It can only represent the basic human emotions that everyone goes through.
NGS712 4 years ago 2
NGS712:I strongly disagree with you.If he was a racist than it was for him impossible to teach afro-american or jewish pianists or to play for them and that's very sad.
go9zu 4 years ago
go9zu: You misunderstood me. Even if Hofmann was racist, the music that he plays is not. As I said a person's personal ideas cannot affect the music they play.
NGS712 4 years ago
NGS712:I think we have to clarify for what we are talking about.Are we talking about the music or about th person?I can't accept that a musician,an artist can be a racist,that's my point (and I am not the only one,who believes that).It's a shame!BTW I love your favorites (specialy the videos about the great painters).
go9zu 4 years ago 2
go9zu: Believe me I don't accept racism either. However Hofmann is long dead and plus I never heard about him being racist. I was just replying to the person who wrote 'Sadly Hofmann was a racist'. I just didn't see how that mattered as far as this vid. Even if he was racist, that doesn't mean that his skills are less extraordinary or that the music is less beautiful. Thanks for the compliment, btw.
NGS712 4 years ago
An slanderous remark with no basis in fact whatsoever.
Schnabel87 4 years ago
Everyone says Hofmanns recordings feel rushed.
Since he was closer to Chopin's time than us, I regard his as more authoritative. I would like to say that modern pianists are excessively unrushed. Most recordings are recorded "safely". These guys played it without much regard for safety and that is why people gravitate to these old recordings.
mackayde 4 years ago 7
@mackayde it's more authoritative and more aristocratic. I feel like this is the "true" Chopin
bhh1988 4 months ago
Hofman's variety and shading of sound even here with old equip just incredible. Never has the humor and tragedy been more apparent. The greatest allaround pianist ever recorded Sauer and Rosenthal on my list to.But I really never care for his conceptions the first time i hear them some time.The solidity of every utterance is still astounding. This man confounds everone who hears these old recs.
lovesGenet 4 years ago 3
LovesGenet
I agree with you about Hoffman even most fellow pianists praise him. First time I ever heard Sauer and Rosenthal mentioned on music posts. Sauer's recording of Liszt's piano concerto #1 is magnificent. Rosenthal's performance of Chopin's Nocturne Op 27 #2 is one of my favorites.
I particpate in some other music sites and it seems if someone praises a performance recorded before the biofonic recording era I am labeled a dinosaur.
John
63Attila 4 years ago
i would say that this is a little rushed for the pianist; not because of the tempo (which is good) but because of the fact that this piece needs more power.
ibclappin 4 years ago
it could be the quality of the recording that makes it sound weak. it is a pretty old recording. there is a lot of fuzz in the back ground.
teoakinyel 3 years ago
It does not feel rushed, it feels exhilarating. Most pianists of Hofmann's generation played these faster tempi; they knew how to hold a structure together and let the music flow.
snaaptaker 4 years ago 7
@snaaptaker why do people say tempi rather than tempos? we say arpeggios, concertos, allegros and so forth. Who decided to use the italian plural for just tempo?
proszel 4 months ago
@proszel Probably bc 'tempo', 'concerto', 'arpeggio' ARE italian words.
So, if you dont get disgusted with the "o"-ending singular why would you with the "i"-ending plural?
pianofolle 2 months ago
@pianofolle I think you might need to read my comment again. My question is why do people insist on using the italian pluralisation on only one italian word, and use an anglicised pluralisation on the rest. I'm well aware that the italian words are italian, and I didn't say anything about being disgusted.
proszel 2 months ago
@proszel Oh i see now...actually you were for consistency in using the plural. Sorry, I misunderstood and thought you 'only' wanted the '-os' plural !
pianofolle 2 months ago
He has wonderful articulation and great leaps with the left hand, but the whole thing feels rushed, especially the B major section. I really liked his coda, and his chromatic octaves. crazy speed! : )
Kachukeland 4 years ago
Incredible, thank you!!
sjpflute 4 years ago 7
Phenomenal.
Schnabel87 4 years ago 15
@Schnabel87
Hahah, Schnabelians always like Hofmann. So me too !
CaptainBluebear08 1 year ago