Hofmann: Rachmaninoff Prelude in G minor Op 23 No 5 (1923)

[VVKY10]

Live wire!

[kukral]

They didn't use electronic microphones at all in 1923. It is an acoustic recording.

[MrLieblingsessen]

Precise and strong. Just like a military march is intended to be. 2 thumbs up.

[MrBellaC]

my favourite compostion of Rachmaninoff.

mainly the "slow" part is beautiful, the most difficult part.

even if i think, my father would have played it better...

[chrism216]

@Logistica11735

you are a fucking idiot

keep your religious insults out these beautiful videos

[demosj]

Sensational playing. I think the young Horowitz took Hofmann's lead in his first recording of this prelude.

[Bret6464]

@Logistica11735 WTF!!! Bad move, bad comment, IDIOT!

[gullivior]

favoloso...di un'altra categoria anche rispetto a Richter, Gilels etc...fierezza, nobiltà, commozione sublimata (sentire le voci interne nella parte centrale), stupendamente evocativo e privo di retorica..inutile parlare della tecnica di Hofmann, è OLTRE

[madmooster]

Without a doubt the best ending of the piece ever recorded.

[charliedontsweat]

@madmooster beethovens 1st pathetique movement, the ending in that blows brains out

[legallucy]

it's so russian!

[llwayneio]

i have really small hands so this guy is who i look up too. does anyone know if he used his smaller piano all the time or just concerts? I can just about play an octave but not much more, how did hoffman play pieces by people with twice the hand span?

[jasonextreme]

Oh yeah, Lang Lang's is definitely good, if you like idiocracy mixed with a comical blend of stupidity.

[MAF0400239]

One of my favourite recordings!

[Jocklen8]

does anyone know of any sheet music with pedal release symbols for this song? thanks

[jinfiesto]

@Jocklen8 Rachmaninoff writes pedal rather oddly. Much like Debussy. Basicaly, if there are notes that are written that can't possibly be held for their duration, they're implied pedale.

[colourfulwithaU]

@jinfiesto

When I compose, I like to put 'use pedal at your own discretion'. I find it is the most convenient, and the least control-freak-y thing to do, with regards to the pedal. I find putting pedal markings (unless absolutely necessary) is the musical equivalent of a playwright believing he is the director as well. Paradoxically, I'm as confused as Jocklen8 is when it comes to pedal in pieces like this where pedal use is ambiguous. Give me some advice, O knowledgeable one.

[jinfiesto]

Alright, Rachmaninoff will frequently write passages where some of the written note values "overlap" other ones and would be otherwise impossible to hold. In measure 3 of this piece not the difference between the first note and the dotted quarter. The rest is marked 8th above the dotted quarter, so we proceed after the 8th and pedal to the length of the dotted quarter. I hope that clears this up.

[allthenamesrtook]

@colourfulwithaU you have to remember though alot of the time you must put in sustinato pedal marking or the player will perform the piece to differently and with this piece depending on who sells the sheets the pedal changes alot because there is more than one set of sheets wrote for this piece just find one that suits you

[ProLifeMontanaLass]

Wow! thrilling interpretation! unique stacatto touch makes this piece fly. I love his emphasis on the base line ---like marching soldiers --dum da da da, da dum dum, very Russian & glorious as it should be. One of the ONLY recordings of this prelude besides Kissin's in which the piece comes together as one cloth.

Katheryne

[maximusjesse]

i still can't comprehend, how is his technique so good but his hands so small?!?! amazing....

[jubulalau]

His Steinway was special.

It was a bit smaller, made under prescription for him.

Once he asked other pianist to play it, and they said they couldn't do it. Than he said the truth. It had 88 keys in a space that normally would be used for 87.

But that's not a big deal, he would play on normal pianos too.

[classicalmusic29]

I've heard about that. My piano teacher told me a friend of his played a recital on that piano and during the intermission was told that yes, the keys were a little bit smaller (*cause he had been making a ton of mistakes haha*)

[1810to1849]

Steady, driving, relentless A theme: well coloured B theme, poetic. The B theme countermelodies are over-represented, dominating the more lyrical top line. An irresistable performance overall. He never allows the physical challenges to sway his choices, and that's the mark of a true technician I think.

[HanlinSG]

what is this, an essay for a music analysis test?

[brosephjames]

They didn't have $5k Neumann mics back then bro.

[chomskyFTW]

That made my day...

[jeffreysbrother]

@brosephjames but they had cheaper Neumann microphones back then.

[gerryrains]

This was recorded before Electronic Recording was invented. This is a result of a horribly interior technique called Acoustic Recording. As soon as Electronic Recording was developed Acoustic Recording was abandoned forever. This performance makes it obvious why it did disappear.

[ClassicMusicOnly]

This was the best technology back then , what do you expect? HD sound ?

[ChrisWatch]

"this was the best technology back then, what do you expect? HD sound?"

imagine this is what they are trying to do with blue ray.

[paulostroff99]

Hoffman reigns supreme! Bravo! TY.

[zxcvb249]

everyone else better listen to this version before breakfast......well ok some of them are dead!....more acurate and more gramatically correct than most...Prokofiev,Horowitz,Gile­ls,,,,mmmmmmmmm

[opterios]

Too fast for my taste...

[ForeverIsis]

1:52 -2:01 incredible the middle voices!

[Drunk3nFist]

I agree, no one brings out the inner voices like Hoffman does, he makes it just as crystal clear as the main melody line itself. A musical gift that became instinctive to him.

[ForeverIsis]

:))

[BloodyLovin]

Best ever...Hofmann understands what none other, even rach himself did not about his own music.

[klupko1]

emil gillels is the best for rachmaninov.

[ThatRachGirl]

noooo Richter. :) There really is no best, though. But Richter...yummy~

[misstomatomama]

I totally agree. Richter performs the absolute best performance of this -- without a doubt.

[LoftyProduction]

@misstomatomama Richter ... I'm gonna have to disagree here. Emil Gilels.

[loboris1995]

@misstomatomama He understants rachmaninov more than rachmaninov does^^

[36beachbum]

@loboris1995 No he does not. While this is a very unique interpretation, both Rachmaninoff and Horowitz blow him out of the water.

[aguyfromtexas]

Maybe its just the recording, but I thought it was too soft at the climax before the second "Chorus", and he played the end too slow in relation to the beginning imo. The VERY end was good though.  I am not done fine-tuning this piece for myself, but I will get there soon! I love this piece.

[parkourjordz]

I like this versions power but it does not come close to the spirit of gilels...

[bandong123456789]

richter is the best then horowitz,,, i mean in this piece

[gurugeorge]

He plays it very similarly, and at about the same speed, to the way Rachmaninof plays it himself on the RCA recording (not the slow piano roll version).

[ArturoAlejandroS]

I thought the same!I love the RCA version adn this!

[Deadperson213]

Epic. The slow version blows.

[formenlehre]

and by "too fast" I'm assuming you mean faster than you personally can play it.

[gigiozzolo]

i prefere horowitz version, and my favourite is Gilels. And i can't play a piano, i didn't even try, for health problems, so don't say something like "if you can't do it then shut up". I really like every interpretations of this piece, but i WILL express any notes i have on how an artist plays it.

[atrociousanya]

my father has played this in concert before.

[mephyman]

SUPERB!

[pianochick1]

So beautiful...made me cry!!

[piano0989]

make you cry? how?

[deepblack123]

beautiful is true

crying though...

oversensitive much?

[bsarweh1969]

The middle section is played so beautifully and tenderly...I didn't cry myself, but I can see how someone would.

[ChrisWatch]

Excellent. Its amazing how he really understands Rachmaninoffs meaning in this piece; not only that, it is very lively. It sounds as if he just got done writing it (lol). I can really see Rachmaninoff playing it like this at a young vigorous age. Towards the end you can hear Hofmann end it with the satisfaction that he did his best. This shows a lot of respect towards Rachmaninoff I think. I wish I knew what Rachmaninoff thought of this performance.

[MJGriftz]

Well I don't know about this particular performance but in general Rachmaninoff believed Hofmann to be the greatest pianist alive at the time!

[4ngry4nus]

Well Rachmaninoff did name Hoffman the best pianist in his time :D

[JESUSINMOSCOW]

it is a MAGIC!

I just fell on my floor unconcsious...

Thank you so much for the video!!

[britandveg]

Forever indebted to Hofmann for his contribution to piano technique.

[happycorpse]

This song is so fucking kickass. Dig it.

[joshuamerrill]

Absolutely incredible. No wonder Rachmaninoff dedicated Piano Concerto #3 to Hofmann.

[julesdarwich]

well said nostandardrep,

[nostandardrep]

This is Josef Hofmann - JOSEF HOFMANN!!!

Student of Anton Rubinstein, friend and colleague of Rachmaninoff (who called Hofmann the greatest pianist in the world), Godowsky, etc.

The Golden Jubillee Concert

The Casimir Hall Recital

I'm not saying you're not entitled to your opinions, BUT.........

Consider these facts before you boldly pronounce his tempi are wrong, and declare that he needs more accents, he's too rigid, etc. Maybe you should ask yourself why he's doing things this way.

[playgued]

Brilliant in all respects. One of the very greatest pianists ever recorded. Thank you.

[tonyzebologna]

to fast, it sounds better played slower

[WVrrus]

Aye, not only it's too fast at the start; he's also completely skip some author's accents, and i believe that they are "required" to play as they're fixed in the lyrics of the piece.

Perhaps he got incorrect lyrics, though... Who knows.

[CoolWJL]

This is Hoffmann, he can do what ever he pleases. ;)

[WENCHINGTON]

I WANT TO DECAPITATE YOU

[swojnicz]

To fast?! Everyone has it's own ¨Need for Speed¨. So bad he couldn´t ask you for help with this piece. He was talented, he could easly fix the problem.

[piano345]

beautiful the way he floats the melody over the left hand in the middle section. the ending is inspired but otherwise a bit too rigid in rhythmn.

[uhrkraft]

It's a march!!!!!!! It's supposed to be tight.

[reversEngiener]

Amazingly talented. But the beginning of this piece especially just feels rushed. Listen to Rachmaninoff's original recording. Its slower tempo just seems to fit the piece better... you can almost feel the strength between each note.

Having said that, though, Hofmann is still a world-class musician.

[alanlehman]

The technique is very good. But it seems very rushed.

[mackayde]

I think it is better to say that "By today's standards, it is rushed."

Hofmann was a friend of Rachmaninov so I would take his rendition more seriously than all the overemotional present day pianists.

[GreatPianists]

That's gotta be one of the best piano techniques I've ever heard. So perfect. He does take it a bit on the fast side, but to me it really doesn't detract from the performance.

The middle section is just beautiful.

[ClassicalMMAChef]

Hofmann's interpretation of Rachmaninov surely denotes that he knew how Rach viewed his music, as romantic but not overly so.

That said, for my personal taste, the best version available in You Tube is the magnificent rendition by Gilels. He purveys a strong feeling of perseverance.

[tdenusa]

Gilels.

[paulostroff99]

Brilliant pianist!

[salexlindsay]

Impressive how little pedalling he uses in the e flat major bits.

[sagalat]

Tremendous, although nobody surpasses Richter's slow furtive attack starting around 02:00

[ugnex3]

I agree!

[mltube]

This I did not like that much. Still, a fascinating pianism, but my general impression that he was not too attuned to his friend's compositions.

[luganskymichelangeli]

would be a great addition if you could add his composition called 'kaleidoskop'....

[luganskymichelangeli]

thanks!