Chopin Grande Polonaise Op. 22 Hofmann Rec. 1937

Recorded during Josef Hofmann's Golden Jubilee Concert,Metropolitan Opera House,New York,N.Y, November 28, 1937

When,in 1955,the Los Angeles classical music station broadcast the Hofmann Golden Jubilee Concert after the recordings had been released for the first time, I recall the announcer saying in a reverent tone,"We understand Mr. Hofmann is listening tonight." I've often wondered what thoughts went through his mind as he listened. There were some in the audience who had been present at the 11 year old's New York debut.W.J. Henderson of the New York Times wrote of Hofmann's concert,"He appeared on stage last evening in a blue and gray striped sailor shirt,knee breeches and stockings,and looked if anything younger than he is." Henderson ended his review by writing,"Suffice is to say,for the present that Josef Hofmann,as a musical phenomenon,is worthy of the sensation that he has created. More than that,he is an artist,and we can listen to his music without taking into concideration the fact that he is a child."
This is THE performance of Chopin's Grande Polonaise Op.22, as far as I'm concerned. Hofmann's performance makes other pianists sound like beginners

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Chopin
• Grande
• Polonaise
• Op.
• 22
• Hofmann

[Beckmesser2]

Thank you for your comments.

[maddpianist]

Definitive. Absolutely beyond critique. Nothing is overlooked; every last detail is revealed and every note carries incomprehensible weight, yet he doesn't get lost in details. There is always the sense of direction, as if he carries your spirit from one measure to the next and never sets you down until the very end. He has the clarity and sophistication of Mozart's ideal, yet is so filled with color, at at times his sound seams to have been thrown down to the earth by Zeus like lightning.

[RabidCh]

Zimmerman has his own style. You may think it's definitive but I do not, as good as it is, Hofmann is just on another plane.

[refuseit]

This is just impossibly good. Definitive and untouchable.

[WaterVirtue]

Beckmesser2, thanks for posting this important recording of Hofmann's Golden Jubilee Concert at the Metropolitan Opera. Hofmann's artistry is all-encompassing, regal and grand. Listening to it helps me realize why he was called the "emperor" among pianists. When Hofmann was at his prime, nobody could equal him.

[Gargantupimp]

i liek horowitz perfromance of this moar, but this is every bit as brilliant and perhaps even more original

[mombeekmarcel]

forget rubinstein, zimerman, richter... this is the way you have to make music...

[rudolphjack]

Jack Rudolph

[hophmi]

The Polonaise is a polonaise, stately and measured. This is how it should be played.

[1fattyfatman]

Rubinstein's elan, Horowitz athleticism.. or the jeweler's eye of Michelangeli maybe not, but it feels made up on the spot and unfussy which really suits this piece..

[aardvaark069]

It is clear to me that Hofmann in live settings is simply 'Off the Chain' in the absolute best sense of the word.