Poser debut rar pro#

A Hofmann con cert was, by all contemporary accounts, a cornucopia of sounds always arranged in fresh and newly interesting ways. What is disturbing in con sidering this paragon of pi anists, is the effect on me after several hearings of his highly individualized inter pretations of the standard repertory. The gifts were there, and in the “Chro maticon” we hear the pi anist's ardent desire to sing in the long, arching melody. What Hofmann could have achieved as a composer had he turned from the concert stage we will never know. There is some originality in the scoring, but it seems more the originality of the amateur than the seasoned professional. Hofmann's “Chromaticon” is, in a word, a good attempt to write an important piece. One feels that Hofmann is on a level with the creator in this.

But under Hofmann's inspired reading emerge mystery, joy and heroism the concerto as sumes majestic proportions only hinted at in lesser per formances. Ge nius does admit flaws and the Rubinstein concerto has its share. No other perform ance on recordings so cap tures the genius of this force ful if flawed composer. The results of this life‐long probing into what was the organizing principle in this or that work can be heard accurately, awe‐inspiringly and even a little uncomforta bly in this album.įor the Anton Rubinstein D minor Concerto, this per formance must be called de finitive. Over a fifty‐year period this view enabled Hofmann to experiment con stantly within his repertory. If the great Rachmaninoff always aimed at “the point” of a composition-the reali zation of the shape and con tent of a piece that the Russian composer‐virtu oso deemed uppermost in the mind of the piece's com poser-then Hofmann aimed at proving that a work had as many “points” in per formance as there were per formances. Feathery pianissimos, shifting muted sonorities, volcanic up heavals of sound poured from his palette in never eitding freshness. What his fingers could not do, could probably not be done, so complete was his digital control. To hear Hofmann play is to hear a supreme colorist at work. The balance of the concert was made public in the 1950's and includes a Chopin group and a gaggle of encores - more Chopin, Mendelssohn, Rachmani noff, Moszkowski and Hof mann's arrangement of Bee thoven's “Turkish March” from “The Ruins of Athens.” (Hofmann was then director of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.) Also previously unreleased is a performance by the orches tra of Brahms's “Academic Festival Overture” and, again with Hofmann as solo ist, Hofmann's own “Chro maticon,” which he de scribed as a “duologue for piano and orchestra.” And there is a speech by Walter Damrosch extolling Hof mann. This is ac companied by the Curtis Stu dent Orchestra under the direction of Fritz Reiner. New to recording from this concert is a heroic and po etic performance by Hof mann of the Piano Concerto in D minor by his teacher, Anton Rubinstein. It is available from the International Piano Li brary in a two‐disk set of monaural recordings (IPL 5001/2) and can he had by writing the IPL at 215 West 91st Street, New York 10024. Now this memorable event-it was what Roose velt had expected-has been released on recordings for the first time complete, and it is an important document in sound. The concert was recorded, but only portions of it were released on Columbia label disks. The Citizens Committee in cluded some 250 listings of illustrious names in society and finance.

Poser debut rar pro#

That Golden Jubilee con cert was attended by the musical and social luminaries of., the period-President Roosevelt sent his regrets that he and Eleanor couldn't attend but said they hoped that the concert would be a memorable event “in a ca reer so crowded with dis tinction and that the music lovers of America for years to come have the ennobling influence which your art has for so long in fused into the musical life of the Nation.” The Musi cians Committee for the con cert included just such prom inent musical names as Far rar, Flagstad, Heifetz, Hess, Horowitz, Paderewski, Pro kiafiev, Rachmaninoff, Sto kowski, Stravinsky, Tosca nini the list went on and on. At resumption of the career, Hofmann was again acclaimed a prodigious mas ter of music and the key board. Then rescue by a mysterious benefactor, who provided money for study so long as the boy stopped playing in public. A spectacular debut at 10 in the huge Metropolitan Opera audito rium was followed by some years of flagrant exploitation, of the boy genius's gifts by his father and manager. His career was never less than a sensation - like his playing. The for midable, world acclaimed pianist, then 60 years old, was commemorating his 50th year before the American. ONE of the most cele brated concerts in re cent times was Josef Hofmann's Golden Ju bilee progrant at the Metro politan Opera House, No vember 28, 1937.