Josef Hofmann plays Chopin Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23

No description is needed...

Category:

Music

Tags:

• hofmann
• chopin
• ballade
• piano

[rightman220]

Lang Lang is a literal nothing compared to Hofmann - the debate is beyond stupid, and no one with any depth and breath of musical knowledge - and understanding would even bother to indulge it.

[MrRaphaelBM]

The presto con -fouco sound like fire works.

[Modeltnick]

Josef Hofmann was no doubt the best pianist of the modern age. It is unfortunate that there are still critics around today who persist in their jealous comments to the contrary. Thanks for posting these masterpieces!

[GetMeThere1]

One of the best, certainly the most ACCURATE video description I've seen: "No description is needed"

!!!

[rekab7070]

Of particular interest is his use of tempo rubato as well as rhythmic devises, including 'jumping' the beat, accelerando, and dramatic tempo changes: in the hands of a lesser pianist this would not work, but Hofmann pulls it off by the strength of this phrasing and musical motivation. We can hear that Hofmann loved explosive, even bombastic, climaxes, which along with the grand gestures, are qualities he must have picked up from his teacher, the mighty Anton Rubinstein.

[Bret6464]

I wanted to hear Hofmann's Ballade. And it is exquisite, no denying he was a master, one of the greatest. No denying Rachmaninoff's admiration for Hofmann - and Horowitz - not difficult to understand why.

Extremely fortunate that we can listen to all these rare recordings of Hofmann, Rach, others. TY truecrypt - once again :-))

Having said that, Rachmaninoff is the one "god" in pianism for the ages :-))

[paulostroff99]

Awesome.Could anyone in history have been any better.T.Y. truecrypt for posting.

[vcupiano]

thank you for this



[Katamanteuomos]

and other ballades? has he recorded them? it's Absolutely Incredible but i guess Hofmann wasn't content enough.

[ChrisWatch]

Haunting, ghostly. Vulnerable, perfect. A beautiful story behind told. A dream being felt.

An answer to a specific question. A certain taste that fits well with such textures. The quality is impeccable and the tiniest of details haven't gone unnoticed. He played for a large audience and I'm certain a lot of those audiences went on to become pianists, or, at least spent the rest of their life dreaming of it for themselves or their children.

Chopin was a genius. Josef proves that here.

[codonauta]

@dragoncaviar And films with Rachmamninoff playing, nor a single one! It seems Rachmanonoff didn´t like to be filmed playing, and today we don´t have a single registracion of him playing, just audio.

[codonauta]

@dragoncaviar Yes, really. A very rare one, and with images from above, when we can see his hands working. . Thanks for the tip.