Josef Hofmann plays Chopin Berceuse D flat major op. 57

[rasmusahlmark]

Thanks for sharing this recording. When was it recorded?

[lagunagreg]

I'm afraid I agree with those who think it's too fast. It's not supposed to sound like a virtuoso showpiece.

[CuteOrCool]

This song really nice.

[DaHeichef]

Mesmerizing. Hofmann is (or was), alongside with Rachmaninoff, the best of the best. Such an aristocratic and noble playing is a rarity these days.

[legopiano]

too fast, should listen to rubinstein or pollini's one~

[truecrypt]

Instead of recommendation you better try to explain why do you think it's "too fast".

Do you really think people who listen this don't know about Rubinstein and Pollini?

[pianotruth]

@truecrypt For those living on the same planet as Artur Rubinstein or Pollini, please close your eyes and listen to Hofmann's messages and you will realize how much emotions, feelings, dynamics, and metaphysics ... Hofmann has encrypted in his music, as explained in his book. Remember Artur Rubinstein was longing to be a student of Anton Rubinstein who only accepted Hofmann as a private pupil.

[jh200176]

@truecrypt If any proof is needed that there is no such thing as THE right tempo for any piece, then the recordings of Hofmann (especially the 1937) and Solomon of the Berceuse, both among the best Chopin recordings known to me, are.

[truecrypt]

@jh200176

I also think "the right tempo" is a relative term and a lot of depends on who is playing. Hofmann probably could do it twice or 3 times slower... and it would be still wonderful.

[pianotruth]

@legopiano Hofmann was referred by Anton Rubinstein as "a genius after Mozart" and a "musical phenomenon." His musical interpretations were like messages inside atoms from different universes which do not have to be agreed by those who think he plays too fast. "Speed" is a relative term. For those who live on the same planet as

[fndwggn]

@legopiano

According to Valentina Lesitsa:

When Chopin wrote this piece it didn't even have a title "Berceuse" - it was called variations brillants. It was added by the publisher later.

Classical variations have to stay in the same tempo unless indicated otherwise.What's good for the theme is fast for variations. But if theme is too slow , it is a funeral march not berceuse:-)

[fndwggn]

@legopiano Lesitsa Continued...

Chopin was just having fun with next-to-impossible filigree passagework.

My favorite rendition is Hoffmann and he is pretty darn fast :-)

I agree though, this is a bit fast for my taste. Prefer hers. I play it more slowly, but she has an interesting and valid take. And interesting history. But her left hand, is a bit dead for me, as is Hofmanns. Speed should not eliminate the freedom of push and pull. Especially with chopin

[eristaviserbia]

One of Chopin's most beautiful compositions! Hofmann gives rhythmic drive and feeling worthy of the Berceuse.

[snaaptaker]

Listen to Hofmann's live performance of this on his 1937 "Golden Jubilee" recording. That's the ONLY version, IMO.

[paulostroff99]

Acknowledged by most authorities as the best pianist ever-IMHO, I hear only great beauty of music playing here. If my ears deceive,I make no apologies for their taste,or lack of same. Bravo! TY.

[BachScholar]

Hofmann was great, but honestly now who can really like this piece? It's overrated in my opinion. I enjoy Czerny exercises much more than Chopin's Berceuse. Chopin must have been terribly bored when he wrote this.

[jazziko]

I think you are just born to enjoy Czerny's exercises... good luck

[1fattyfatman]

Viva Libetta!

[libetta]

thanks

[dfalchek]

Too fast, no feeling, no emotion. A poor version.

[truecrypt]

No, everything is fine with performance, but your comment is very poor...

[swdiva24]

wait no he didnt compose this

as i thought he did o-o

How could i not notice that this is a chopin composition !

well.. then i must say, it is quite stiff. nontheless, a good performance

[swdiva24]

He wrote this peice didnt he? so he can play it however he want. How would you know how its suppose to sound ? He's the only one with the true interpretation. yes, your comment is very poor.

[purplepeoplepurple]

It sounds too fast to me, too. A berceuse is a lullaby. I can't imagine a child being lulled to sleep by this.

[truecrypt]

Berceuse IS a lullaby, but this piece was not composed as a lullaby. The name is somewhat misleading. Chopin himself called it "Variants" before it was called a "Lullaby".

[erwydd]

Glad to see that someone else doesn't have a very large hand span.

[cellestialX]

I liked this tremendously. Exquisite!!!!!!!!!

[flugelmaniac]

I agree this is a VERY mechanical and stiff

performance.......this is painfully obvious even through the mist of an old recording that isn't as clear sounding as some of the same era.

[smithsherman]

...Through the additions of Inauthentic Revisions,Objectivisms,and what wasn't....

[smithsherman]

"A purposed,blatant,parading of the player's dear LACK of self....

[smithsherman]

This is such bad boring Performance practice.

This is the beginning of decades of coerced-long lines,unlyrical,flat,metromomi­c,stiff mechanical playing that is expressive of tone & Anti-Expression only.

[smithsherman]

Removed from this interpretation as given by the generations before him is surprise,varied note weighting,phrasing heirarchy,suspenseful tenuti,tendency-laden leading tones,varied

beat placement & individual phrase expression.

[pianopera]

"A purposed, blatant parading of the player's dear self through wilful additions of nuances, shadings, effects and what not, is tantamount falsification; at best it is 'playing to the galeries', charlatanism."

(Joseph Hofmann)

This is played with a mixture of classic purity and romantic elegance.

[pianopera]

Sorry Smithsherman, you have a very limited way of listening to the greatest pianists.

You're like a child in a museum full of masterworks, stubbornly screaming: "I don't like them, 'cause my favourite colours (probably pink and orange) are not there!"

[smithsherman]

Sorry Erwinpoelstra,but you're like an old Pedant in a Museum of Fetishist Paraphenalia screaming,"I can't wear them" because they

aren't Dark Brown & Painful enough.

[pianopera]

You're the masochist, not me...this comment qualifies yourself.

[pianopera]

Or shall I say, you have DISqualified yourself from any chance of being taken seriously...

[smithsherman]

Does this mean that you no longer take me Seriously?....DAMN...~!~

[smithsherman]

Anyone Who listens to Modern Classical Performance is an auto-flagellist.But I've never mastered the self-abnegating prostrations you make,screaming...(I'm not Worthy)

[pianopera]

My dear celebrator, the Crucifiction Department is on the third floor, have fun...

[Minchionstronz4]

You are crazy, smithsherman.