Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Marche Militaire for piano, 4 hands in D major, D. 733/1 (Op. 51/1)
2. Erlkönig ('Wer reitet so spät'), song for voice & piano, D. 328 (Op. 1)
3. Song without Words for piano No. 3 in A major ('Jägerlied'), Op. 19b/3
4. Song without Words for piano No. 30 in A major ('Frühlingslied'), Op. 62/6
5. Polonaise for piano No. 3 in A major ('Military'), Op. 40/1, CT. 152
6. Waltz-Caprice, for piano in E flat major
7. Fantasiestück ('Warum?'), for piano, Op.12/3
8. Liebesträume, notturno for piano No. 3 in A flat major ('O Lieb, so lang du lieben kannst'), S. 541/3 (LW A103/3)
9. Etude for piano No. 3 in C minor, Op. 120
10. Sanctuary
11. Schmetterling (Butterfly), lyric piece for piano, Op. 43/1
12. Song without Words for piano No. 34 in C major ('Spinnerlied'), Op. 67/4
13. Caprice espagnol, for piano, Op. 37
14. Menuet célèbre, humoresque de concert for piano in G major, Op. 14/1
15. Tarantelle di bravura d'aprés la tarantella de La Muette de Portici, for piano (after Auber; 3 versions), S. 386 (LW A125)
16. Waltz for piano in E minor, KK IVa/15, CT. 222 (B. 56)
17. Waltz for piano No. 2 in A flat major, Op. 34/1, CT. 208
18. Rondo capriccioso, for piano in E major, Op. 14: Abridged
19. Etude for piano 'La jongleuse,' Op. 52/4

Disc 2:

1. Fantasy-Impromptu for piano in C sharp minor, Op. 66, CT. 46
2. Chants Polonais (6), transcription for piano (after Chopin Op. 74), S. 480 (LW A193): The Maiden's Wish
3. Berceuse for piano in D flat major, Op. 57, CT. 7
4. Valse Gracile, for piano, Op. 49/3
5. Birds at Dawn, Op 20/2
6. Hungarian Rhapsody, for piano No. 2 (the 'original' No. 2) in C sharp minor (I & II), S. 244/2 (LW A132/2)
7. Waldesrauschen (Forest Murmurs), for piano (Zwei Konzertetuden No. 1), S. 145/1 (LW A218/1)
8. Paride ed Elena, opera in 5 acts, Wq. 39: Gavotte in A
9. Polonaise for piano No. 3 in A major ('Military'), Op. 40/1, CT. 152
10. Sonata for keyboard in C major, K. 513 (L. S3)
11. Nocturne (Complaint) 'Mignonettes': Nocturne
12. Waltz for piano No. 7 in C sharp minor, Op. 64/2, CT. 213
13. Nocturne for piano No. 5 in F sharp major, Op. 15/2, CT. 112
14. Prelude for piano No.1 in C sharp minor ('The Bells of Moscow'), Op. 3/2
15. Prelude for piano No.6 in G minor, Op. 23/5
16. Melodies (2) for piano, Op. 3: Melody in F
17. Scherzo for piano No. 1 in B minor, Op. 20, CT. 197
18. Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), opera, WWV 86b: Magic Fire Music
19. Meine Freuden, transcription for piano (after Chopin, Op. 74/12, Chants polonais No. 5), S. 480/5, (LW A193/5): My Darling
20. Ruins of Athens, incidental music, Op. 113: Turkish March

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #73369 in Music
• Released on: 1999-10-26
• Number of discs: 2

Amazon.com
Before he became the brilliant and charismatic virtuoso to whom Rachmaninov dedicated his Third Piano Concerto, Joseph Hofmann was a child prodigy. He was also the first pianist ever to make a record: in 1888, at age 12, he sat on Thomas Edison's lap and played into a prototype of the cylinder machine. That was a year after his New York debut at the old Metropolitan Opera house had caused general amazement among the public and the critics, but had also brought the wrath of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children upon the heads of his promoters. A wealthy New Yorker put up $50,000 (the equivalent of at least half a million today) to see that young Hofmann was educated rather than exploited; he was sent off to study with Anton Rubinstein in Dresden, and made his adult debut in the U.S. at the acceptable age of 22. By then, he was a finished pianist, capable of producing cascades of notes with his small hands (Steinway built a grand with slightly narrower keys just for him) as well as extraordinary effects of color and delicacy. His virtuosity was all the more hair-raising for its elegance and seeming effortlessness.

One gets a good idea of all that from this sampler of Romantic miniatures and encore pieces recorded between 1903 and 1923 (mainly 1916-23), in rather primitive but nonetheless revealing sound. Hofmann's unerring sense of line and pace are much in evidence, but so are his pronounced rubato and, in certain selections (like Rubinstein's Valse-caprice in E flat), more than a few slips and wrong notes--the price one paid for being engaged with the music and taking chances. --Ted Libbey

Customer Reviews

Greatest of the Great
Ahhh Hofmann...What a treat to hear the legend in some of his earliest recordings. The style is true to the score, the articulation flawless, no hint of over-interpretation by HIM in the era of pianistic fireworks; relentless perfection. The sound quality is as one should expect from the 1910's and 1920's. But, concentrate on the performance, not the hissing of the recording. There is much to appreciate if you listen!

Dynamo of the Piano
First of all, I would part company with those who comment on the "recording quality" of a particular record. Naturally the sound technology was not advanced in those days, so the artist had to make do. Any listener who knows something about the piano should be able to get beyond this.

This CD should be bought by any listener interested in the golden age of piano giants. Rachmaninoff, whose name should be familiar as both composer and pianist to any piano afficoniado, actually preferred Hofmann's playing, especially in passages requiring clear fingerwork, to his own. Indeed, the clarity and lightness of Hofmann's fingerwork is astounding. Of particular note on this album is Chopin's Berceuse, arguably the greatest recording ever made of this particular piece. I will limit myself to describing his performance of this piece, since I think this is most indicative of the beauty of Hofmann's piano sound. The thirds are lighter and better articulated than Friedman's or Cortot's performances of the same piece. His tempos in general are held, with the addition of cleverly placed rubato. Hofmann's style for passagework can be called the "jeu perle" style, representing a touch in between legato and staccato which gives the passage a certain precise, smooth sound. His pedalling also is immaculate. Actually, he does not use very much pedal at all. He only uses it at junctures when it is absolutely needed, not to cover up poor technique and creating a sloppy "wet" sound which seems to be the dilemma of many modern pianists. In his several different recordings of the piece, the only place I consistently hear him using pedal is in the grace note/rolled chord variation of the theme, where the right hand's sound and harmony dictate it.

In short, buy this CD to get a glimmer of old school piano playing at its finest.

Which Hofmann?
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.
This Philips compilation draws from the earlier commercial recordings. It's a fine, economical introduction, but I would go for the Marstons. They are complete, the transfers are better, the notes superb, and the company is well worth supporting. 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.