November 28 this year was the 83rd anniversary of Josef Hofmann’s Golden Jubilee concert at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. It was a key performance in a series of concerts celebrating the Polish pianist’s 50 years on stage, and fortunately for posterity this incredible event was recorded, without his knowledge (his wife arranged it and he found out about it soon after). Columbia issued some of the solo works on LP in 1955, and the International Piano Library and then International Piano Archives would later make the entire concert available.
The recording of this event of 83 years ago showcasing a pianist born almost 145 years ago features some of the most miraculous playing ever captured on disc and is one of the landmarks of recorded pianism. I will never forget the look on a fellow student’s face back in university when I played him Hofmann’s reading of Chopin’s First Ballade from this concert: after a stunned silence, he simply said ‘I never knew playing like this was possible.’ Indeed, most piano students – and many professionals – still don’t.
Hofmann’s very individual approach fell out of favour with as the Urtext movement grew, as more objective, less personal performance (as opposed to *interpretation*) became the norm – the irony being that at his time Hofmann was seen as more restrained than some of his colleagues. Jorge Bolet was horrified to hear of teachers telling students not to listen to Hofmann’s recordings. Indeed, when the Columbia LP presented here was issued in 1955, Hofmann had not issued a recording for some 30 years and the tides had changed, Hofmann’s style seeming to be something very much of the past.
I would not advocate playing like Hofmann (I don’t suggest anyone play like anyone, but develop their unique voice) but I think that if you aren’t aware of what is possible – of what tonal colours can be produced, how phrasing can be shaped, how primary and secondary voices can communicate, and how the pedal can be used beyond ‘on’ and ‘off’ – then how limited a present-day pianist’s and listener’s concepts of what piano playing is and can be.
The Columbia LP linked below, while lacking a few of the solo works from the concert as well as the two concerted works that Hofmann played, features a good deal of the truly legendary performances from that phenomenal event. In addition to the Chopin Ballade mentioned above, one of my favourite readings from this concert is Hofmann’s reading of Rachmaninoff’s ever-popular Prelude in G Minor Op.23 No.5. The composer was a great fan of Hofmann’s and a dear friend, and it boggles the mind that he dedicated his Third Concerto to Hofmann and that Hofmann never played it, as it has now become what is probably the most popular piano concerto of all time. In particular listening to the middle section of this Prelude, we can get a pretty clear idea of how his approach to the concerto might have sounded and indeed the kind of playing that Rachmaninoff might have had in mind when he wrote it: the silky pedal effects, the mind-blowing transparency of textures, that three-note secondary voice soaring above the more muted silky-pedalled undulation as if coming from a completely different instrument. And the incisive rhythm of the outer sections, as well as taut voicing of chords, is stunning as well. There are miracles in this performance that simply must be heard to be believed – and even then, they can be hard to believe.
I could write extensively about each of these performances, and in some previous posts I have. The Chopin Nocturne Op.9 No.2 with its soaring line, lean textures, and remarkably subtle pedal effects; the Berceuse with wonderful pearl-like runs, polished tone, the most magnificent pedalling, and a marvellous ‘gong’ effect towards the end; the Moszkowski Caprice Espagnole with truly jaw-dropping virtuosity, its towering fortissimos contrasted with feathery pianissimos, rapid-fire repeated notes… each piece on this program is a miracle of pianism – yes, from bygone age, but the music played is from a bygone age too, and so this style of performance at the very least needs to be heard if one professes to have an interest in the music of other eras.
We are so beyond fortunate that today we have such easy access to so many recorded treasures of the distant past. The entire concert is still available on CD, on the VAI label, produced by Hofmann scholar Gregor Benko and remastered by master engineer Ward Marston (click here). Below the first link to a transfer of that 1955 LP that focused on Hofmann’s solo performances (not all but most), I will also link to an upload of the full concert, including orchestral numbers and speeches. If you do not own a copy of the full concert, I cannot recommend the VAI set highly enough – it’s a treasure.
Stupendous pianism by one of the all-time legends of the keyboard!
Chopin:
0:06 Waltz (“Minute”) Op. 64 No. 1
2:17 Ballade No. 1 in G Minor Op.23
10:27 Berceuse Op.57
13:55 Andante Spianato & Grande Polonaise Op.22
25:13 Etude Op 25 No 9
26:35 Nocturne Op 9 No 2
30:42 Rachmaninoff Prelude in G Minor Op.23 No.5
34:32 Mendelssohn Spinning Song
36:24 Beethoven-Rubinstein Turkish March (from “The Ruins of Athens”)
38:24 Moszkowski Caprice Espagnole Op.37
The full concert: