Hofmann plays Mendelssohn & Rachmaninoff at Golden Jubilee

Recorded 1937. Only the very elite can play the Mendelssohn Spinning Song as Hofmann does, with such balance between the melody and the spinning accompaniment.

In the "un poco meno mosso" section of the Rachmaninoff Prelude, it sounds as though an extra hand has mysteriously appeared to play the counter melody.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Hofmann
• Mendelssohn
• Rachmaninoff

[Noshirm]

Hofmann was an inimitable genius. Could you please point me to where I could read reviews of this Golden Jubilee Concert? And yes, I hear the 'third hand', too. Rachmaninoff always thought Hofmann was the greatest of them all; I think it made Horowitz a bit jealous. Is this correct?

[rhadamanthes82]

this is incredible. How Hoffmann do to display such rithmics dymanics !!! he is totally stunning

[soami2u]

What a colossal genius of the piano...pianists today are pygmies next to Hofmann!

[paulostroff99]

Stupendous! Bravo! TY.

[aewanko300]

Hey beckmesser, you are right about the middle section of the Rachmaninoff prelude. It did seem that he had an "extra" hand.

[horatiodreamt]

Thanks for posting this. I can see why Rach. thought Hofmann was a great pianist by Hofmann's interesting use of rhythms, as in the Prelude in this recital.

[snaaptaker]

I have owned these these for decades, first when Columbia released the LP of just the solo pieces, and then,again, when IPA released the LP boxed-set of the whole concert.

I have yet to hear these performances equalled. An absolute treasure!!

Thanks for posting them, Becks.