Charles Rosen on Josef Hofmann (Interviews)

[@johnschlesinger2009]

Delightful to hear this. I admire Hofmann enormously. He recorded the first movement of the Chopin B minor sonata: it is perfect: such a pity he didn't record the rest of it. The fourth ballade, from a live concert is also stupendous.

[@GURUGOLDBERG]

Agreed. It is unsurpassed in its colour , rhythmic control, poetry and structural command. Also in the d flat nocturne Opus 27.

[@rrrrrr-kb9sb]

Agreed; the b minor Chopin sonata is Hofmann “the aristocrat” (peerless) - the 4th Ballade is Hofmann “the unleashed tiger”

[@mikedarrah6945]

What treasures these interviews are! Great insights into rubato, supreme artistry.

[@kakoou3362]

2:35 Sooo is this a picture with a microphone or a camera? If it is a camera, that means there is undiscovered footage of Hofmannn????!!!

[@sfd373]

Very interesting! Thanks for posting 🙏🏻

[@MrInterestingthings]

His 4th Ballade ,his Kreisleriana ,I think we have his Schumann concerto too . Both of the Chopin concerti (I don't know what he's doing) and his Beeth4 . My gawd JosefLhevinne and Moritz Rosenthal Mr.Rosen knew!!! these men.Can you imagine ? Rosen actually heard the greatest student of Liszt .Did he hear Saur who made the best recordings !

[@GURUGOLDBERG]

See also George Bolet on Hofmann.

[@noshirm6285]

What a TREAT! 👏🏻

[@r.i.p.volodya]

I would LOVE to know what tempi Hofmann took for the Hammerklavier Sonata...

[@carlhopkinson]

Josef Hofmann

[@ValseMelancolique]

...he can’t play it any faster😂😂😂

[@rrrrrr-kb9sb]

Rosen is incorrect; Hofmann didn’t play Rach3 because he felt it had a deficient form (he was correct)

[@philipau3847]

Hofmann's exact quote of the Rach 3 was: 'A short melody which is constantly interrupted with difficult passages; more a fantaisie than a concerto. Not enough form.'

[@kakoou3362]

@@philipau3847where did you get this quote?

[@philipau3847]

@@kakoou3362 Barrie Martyn, Rachmaninoff: Composer, Pianist, Conductor

[@dorfmanjones]

@@philipau3847 Doesn't sound right. For one thing it's not a short melody; quite the opposite. I don't believe Hofmann said that, as such, unless it was tongue in cheek. Frankly, I doubt Hofmann played the Rachmaninoff concertos at all. He left that repertoire to the composer and to Moiseivitch. Later, Horowitz. These concertos more or less replaced the Rubinstein concertos, his teacher's, which he continued to champion into the 1940's. (He played the Scriabin concerto early in his career.)

[@frazzledude]

@@dorfmanjones I have also heard that Hofmann didn't want to play the Rach 3 because he had small hands.