Search - Johannes Brahms, Anton Rubinstein, Frederic Chopin :: The Complete Josef Hofmann, Vol. 2

Staggering Performances!

05/18/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These two CDs are real treasures for piano recording lovers! After somewhat business-like performance of Brahms' "Academic Overture", conducted by Fritz Reiner, the magic begins. Hofmann's recording of Rubinstein No.4 is beyond description. He makes this somewhat old-fashioned showpiece into a concerto comparable to Rachmaninoff concertos. The way he thunders his entrance of the first movement will make one jump up from his seat. At the same time, more lyrical sections are played with utmost delicacy and elegance. The middle movement is played with winsome simplicity. The last movement has almost terrifying power and intensity. The orchestra seems to have been inspired by Hofmann. The voltage of performance picks up considerably. The shorter works are played with plenty of personality and dashing elegance. Chopin's first ballade is demonic, with curiously cool lyrical sections. Polonaise is dazzlingly colorful. His own "Chromaticon" is an interesting piece. It sounds like a bit like Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff mixed together. Perhaps the most incredible short piece in the CD is Mozskowski's "Caprice Espagnole." This piece shows Hofmann at his very best. His repeated notes are simply astonishing. The piece displays Hofmann's imcomparable elegance, fire and tremendous control. The ending is hair-raising. The sound overall is quite listenable for its age. But it is the quality of performance that really counts here. Never mind the sound, just listen!"

The Place to Start

Richard Mathisen | Ambler, PA USA | 02/28/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you're not familiar with Josef Hofmann, this album is the place to start. And, if you are already familiar with him, well -- this is still the place to start. Contains a recording of Hofmann's 50th Anniversary "Golden Jubilee" recital of 1937, one of the few recordings that catches Hofmann at his best and also contains a wide selection of his repertoire. Pianists should start with the Chopin Minute Waltz, which will astonish you with its velocity and sensitivity. Then go to the Chopin G Minor Ballade and Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise, both considered the greatest performances of these works ever put on disk. Most observers consider Hofmann the greatest pianist of the century. Horowitz, for example, was in awe of Hofmann. This album is one of the few legacies left to us. See for yourself!"

Which Hofmann?

John Atherton | CINCINNATI, OHIO United States | 09/06/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Hofmann - particularly late Hofmann - may be an acquired taste.

Despite having been the protégé of Anton Rubinstein, "the wonderful boy" was recognized from quite an early age as the exemplar of a modern style of playing - textually faithful, eschewing swooning or bombast. (See, for example, the references to Hofmann in Henry Lahee's wonderful survey from 1900, Famous Pianists of Today and Yesterday.)

Still, a number of younger colleagues expressed ambivalence. Horowitz was floored by Hofmann's keyboard command - everyone was - but he, Artur Rubinstein and Arrau, to name just three - seem not to have been terribly moved by Hofmann's musicianship.

But which Hofmann are we considering? His playing for the gramophone - as early as 1903 and as late as 1935 - was as disciplined as it was imaginative and dazzling. The late Harold Schonberg called it "perfection plus."

However, as Gregor Benko makes clear in his essays for the Marston reissues, Hofmann switched on what the pianist called a "spectacular" style for many public performances. This may sound cynical. Often it sounds terribly cynical. Hofmann was not speaking merely of the need to project in a large concert hall. In public performance - at least those performances we have from the late `30s and early `40s - the aristocrat often becomes a mountebank, lurching from the softest pianissimos to explosive fortissimos, rattling off passages or entire pieces even faster than Simon Barere boasted he could do.

Schonberg - and Hofmann's friend and admirer Rachmaninoff - reminded us that during this period Hofmann had many personal troubles, including a severe drinking problem. We must believe that at his greatest Hofmann played as scrupulously and with as much refined feeling in public as he did on many of his studio recordings, though his manner may have differed somewhat. And there are some marvelous live performances. The Rubinstein 4th from his Golden Jubilee concert beggars description.

So where does that leave us? As an introduction to Hofmann, I would recommend the early Columbia recordings, those he made somewhat later for Brunswick, and the American and British test pressings from 1935 - perhaps his greatest recorded playing. These are Volumes 3, 4 and 5 of the complete Hofmann series. Serious listeners will also want the ups and downs of the Golden Jubilee (Volume 2). The Chopin concertos in Volume 1 have some splendid moments, but the superlative (not spectacular; superlative) performance there is a fragment of the first movement of the E minor concerto performed in London -- far more poised and committed than its counterpart from New York. (I wonder if Hofmann played differently in America than he did in Europe? Some musicians - for instance, Mahler, Toscanini, Bernstein - for varying reasons apparently did.)

Having said all this, the entire Hofmann series is priceless. Heartfelt thanks to Gregor Benko and Ward Marston for making it available in superb transfers with fascinating notes."