I was surprised and vry excited to see this posting; I was unaware it even existed! Someone posted, and rightly so, it is not logical to expect good sound reproduction from a 16mm film from the 1940s. As someone who was on the "projection squad" (aka nerd squad, lol) in elementary school in the '60s, I remember looping the films through the sprockets and around the sound drum, as it was called, and it was just a thin, tiny strip that held the audio information. Even speech sounded almost indecipherably garbled at times (depending on the film and the projector itself). So in retrospect, the audio in this clip is respectable, and it is magnificent to experience the (still) great artistry of the immortal Hofmann. Now, if someone were to uncover footage of Rachmaninoff in performance...!
Did anyone complain about the sound? Must be they are crazy, Sound is amazing, not like today;s junk.Hofmann truly was the best of his Generation!!! I admire today Sokolov and Zimerman
The scariest thing is: many of his contemporaries would have said he was well past his peak by this point. What he must have been when he was in better health. Pianists like Rachmaninoff and Hofmann are like from another world
I've seen this many times already, but something that always amazes me in this video is his technique, almost as if every physical motion he makes had been choreographed exactly to produce the desired sound thoroughly with no wasted movement. There's very few pianists that ever gave me that impression on video, and this was in the twilight of his career!
I think Gyorgy Sandor was another one. He wrote a most interesting book about music, motions and emotions in piano playing, a very practical description for developing the essential skills, and you can see (and hear) clearly what he preached in his own playing.
@@pianopera I had never previously seen a video of Sandor, and his technique is indeed thoughtfully delibrate. I had Michelangeli and oddly enough, Samson Francois, in my mind. Backhaus and Solomon too, though footage is singularly their Beethoven warhorses. I suppose it's combination of purpose and economy in their motion on the piano that really strikes me.
Hofmann appears to clamp his foot on the pedal at the end, ensuring he gets the last word. What a remarkable act of showmanship, on top of his refined pianistic skill evident throughout the clip - in spite of his declining health!
Thanks, Erwin, for this priceless clip! Like most here, I had no idea this video existed. The shots of the keyboard and Hofmann's hands are especially treasurable. That suppleness and elasticity of his wrists explains what must have been one of the most prodigious techniques in pianistic history. If he was past his prime at this stage in his career one would never know it from these amazing five and-a-half minutes!
From this video, you can see how Hofman is playing reasonably well. This video, which was shot around your hand, gives you a glimpse of how good the former authority pianist has performed. Thank you for uploading the wonderful video.
Fascinating to watch the hands, fingers and arms and the various gestures. Who else is there that we can watch the technique at work for pianists trained the 19th century? I have seen this video now, and Saint-Saens, Plante and Pachmann videos, all displaying a curiously similar broad approach to the way the fingers and hands interact with and depart from the keyboard. Are there any others videos of similar nature out there?
Well there's also the Paderewski film of the Chopin Polonaise Opus 53. There's a short snippet of Joseph Lhévinne but without sound, and a short clip of Cortot. Not sure though if there's a lot of similarity in the pianistic approach of all these giants of yore - seems to me that they all had their own very individualistic approach, also in terms of technique.
Amazing! For some reason I thought that the only surviving footage of Hofmann was the Rachmaninov C sharp minor prelude, hardly a vehicle that begins to showcase the abilities of a pianist as great as him. This is fascinating to watch.
I think our modern 21st century best pianists are outstanding. But this is a whole other way of viewing piano playing, it seems. Anyone else impressed with how Hofmann can handle time and rhythm? As if there is no technical element to consider, and it all just comes out as evenly and naturally as in the imagination?
I think you are absolutely right about this. As far as the interpretative ideas, if you listen to d'Alberts recording of the first movement of this concerto, you get a hint of where Hofmann is coming from. D'Albert was also "past his prime" (I would suggest substantially more than Hofmann) and is considerably more eccentric, but you can trace the lineage, to a degree. d'Albert was singled out by Artur Rubinstein among others for his titanic performances of Beethoven 4 and 5. I would think one could also use that word to describe Hofmann. BTW, no one has mentioned that this is only (not even) half of the 3rd movement.... We're missing the whole development section, with the wonderful modulations to C and Ab major....
I wondered how the last movement was going to fit into 5 minutes - the result: not a rondo at all! Nevertheless, this is fascinating film footage, and being able to watch the great man's engagement with the keyboard is particularly interesting. Thank you!
Huge musical personality . Have you ever heard arm chordal playing like this . Surprised that "the fingers with a brain each " actually has quite imperfect scale in second entry . Mitropoulos with Hofmann is even a greater treasure .I've never liked the early 1930's broadcasts we have of his Chopin concerti . Compared to the 1937 Chopin Grande Polonaise . The Rubinstein 4th concerto seems to be great music on the recording the; cd does NOT SOUND right - noone else makes this concerto so musically valid -need i hear Ponti and the amazing Lewenthal and a few others again ? Perhaps. . I was amazed that it was the recording I had treasured as a youth
This is a wonderful performance! Thank you! I don't recognize the conductor, shown clearly around 2:31. Any ideas? It's an NBC show, so they would have used the musicians from the NBC Orchestra. It looks a little like a younger Artur Rodzinski, but I don't know him well enough to make a clear identification. Other regular conductors of the NBC were Monteux and Reiner and Walter and Steinberg, and I know this isn't any of them. Maybe Perlea?
This recording and video may have historic importance. As to music, it does not qualify for a serious comment. The sound is awful and the music is cut too short.
@@pianopera Dear Pianopera: You are right. It could have been worse. I acknowledged the historic interest and perhaps historical value. I am sorry if I was too harsh. I have heard other old recordings of Hoffmann and there was enough musical information to ascertain he was a very good pianist. The present video amputates the 5th concerto to 5 minutes and the sound does not allow me to extrapolate how the piano sounded in reality; thus, I was unable to evaluate. I could evaluate (to some extent) in other ancient recordings. This recording and video made by Bell could have been played in short movie newsreels during 1945. I am grateful that you posted this material and grateful that you allowed me to temper my comment. Buona sera.
No problem! I suggest you try the new Marston release (Volume 9) of Hofmann playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata in 1936, if you haven't done so already...that has much better sound quality indeed. Cheers!
@@jorgeurzuaurzua4011 Video also gives the idea of a TV music performance in the 1940s... take into account the sound is written on the film (special track near the video frame) .... you cannot expect extra sound quality for this...
@@jorgeurzuaurzua4011 I think "good pianist" would have to be an enormous understatement. Hoffman is regarded by the finest pianists of the 20th century to be the best pianist of all time. His playing was prodigious and modern pianists don´t even come close to his mastery of the instrument. These sound recordings do not do him justice.
![Yeat & Quavo - 5BRAZY [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4XxnTAwyxus/mqdefault.jpg)
I was surprised and vry excited to see this posting; I was unaware it even existed! Someone posted, and rightly so, it is not logical to expect good sound reproduction from a 16mm film from the 1940s. As someone who was on the "projection squad"
(aka nerd squad, lol) in elementary school in the '60s, I remember looping the films through the sprockets and around the sound drum, as it was called, and it was just a thin, tiny strip that held the audio information. Even speech sounded almost indecipherably garbled at times (depending on the film and the projector itself). So in retrospect, the audio in this clip is respectable, and it is magnificent to experience the (still) great artistry of the immortal Hofmann. Now, if someone were to uncover footage of Rachmaninoff in performance...!
Did anyone complain about the sound? Must be they are crazy, Sound is amazing, not like today;s junk.Hofmann truly was the best of his Generation!!! I admire today Sokolov and Zimerman
For my self
1:09 -fast left hand chords
2:06 - scale
2:15 - righthand singing tone
2:40 - octave descending (upangle)
2:45 -rapid arpeggio
3:05 - disconnected octave
3:30 - rapid octave (left angle)
4:05 - 2-3 and 3-4 trill & lefthand chord & base (upangle)
4:11 - octave passage
4:21 - broken octave
4:30 - broken chord passage
4:36 - descending scale (upangle)
4:45 - scale playing (left angle)
4:57 - thumb voicing
The scariest thing is: many of his contemporaries would have said he was well past his peak by this point. What he must have been when he was in better health. Pianists like Rachmaninoff and Hofmann are like from another world
I've seen this many times already, but something that always amazes me in this video is his technique, almost as if every physical motion he makes had been choreographed exactly to produce the desired sound thoroughly with no wasted movement. There's very few pianists that ever gave me that impression on video, and this was in the twilight of his career!
I think Gyorgy Sandor was another one. He wrote a most interesting book about music, motions and emotions in piano playing, a very practical description for developing the essential skills, and you can see (and hear) clearly what he preached in his own playing.
@@pianopera I had never previously seen a video of Sandor, and his technique is indeed thoughtfully delibrate. I had Michelangeli and oddly enough, Samson Francois, in my mind. Backhaus and Solomon too, though footage is singularly their Beethoven warhorses. I suppose it's combination of purpose and economy in their motion on the piano that really strikes me.
Of modern pianists, Sokolov is the one your comment reminds me of.
"Thank you, Josef Hofmann" - and Thank You Pianopera for sharing!
Hofmann appears to clamp his foot on the pedal at the end, ensuring he gets the last word. What a remarkable act of showmanship, on top of his refined pianistic skill evident throughout the clip - in spite of his declining health!
Big thanks for this great treasure.
One of the few videos of Hofmannn. Very rare!! Thanks!!!
Thanks, Erwin, for this priceless clip! Like most here, I had no idea this video existed. The shots of the keyboard and Hofmann's hands are especially treasurable. That suppleness and elasticity of his wrists explains what must have been one of the most prodigious techniques in pianistic history. If he was past his prime at this stage in his career one would never know it from these amazing five and-a-half minutes!
From this video, you can see how Hofman is playing reasonably well. This video, which was shot around your hand, gives you a glimpse of how good the former authority pianist has performed. Thank you for uploading the wonderful video.
Amazing! Thank you for the upload!!!!! Treasure!!!
Fascinating to watch the hands, fingers and arms and the various gestures. Who else is there that we can watch the technique at work for pianists trained the 19th century? I have seen this video now, and Saint-Saens, Plante and Pachmann videos, all displaying a curiously similar broad approach to the way the fingers and hands interact with and depart from the keyboard. Are there any others videos of similar nature out there?
Well there's also the Paderewski film of the Chopin Polonaise Opus 53. There's a short snippet of Joseph Lhévinne but without sound, and a short clip of Cortot. Not sure though if there's a lot of similarity in the pianistic approach of all these giants of yore - seems to me that they all had their own very individualistic approach, also in terms of technique.
What a treasure! Thank you so much for posting.
I've never seen him in motion holy shit
I love these historical treasures, thanks for posting. Fascinating to imagine him discussing music with Anton Rubinstein as a young man.
Stunning,, That's a rare piece of treasure...
Amazing! For some reason I thought that the only surviving footage of Hofmann was the Rachmaninov C sharp minor prelude, hardly a vehicle that begins to showcase the abilities of a pianist as great as him. This is fascinating to watch.
I think our modern 21st century best pianists are outstanding. But this is a whole other way of viewing piano playing, it seems. Anyone else impressed with how Hofmann can handle time and rhythm? As if there is no technical element to consider, and it all just comes out as evenly and naturally as in the imagination?
I think you are absolutely right about this. As far as the interpretative ideas, if you listen to d'Alberts recording of the first movement of this concerto, you get a hint of where Hofmann is coming from. D'Albert was also "past his prime" (I would suggest substantially more than Hofmann) and is considerably more eccentric, but you can trace the lineage, to a degree. d'Albert was singled out by Artur Rubinstein among others for his titanic performances of Beethoven 4 and 5. I would think one could also use that word to describe Hofmann.
BTW, no one has mentioned that this is only (not even) half of the 3rd movement.... We're missing the whole development section, with the wonderful modulations to C and Ab major....
@@walterprossnitz3471thank you for that tip towards D'Albert's clips- I didn't know them!
Thank you
Thank you for the upload!!!
I wondered how the last movement was going to fit into 5 minutes - the result: not a rondo at all! Nevertheless, this is fascinating film footage, and being able to watch the great man's engagement with the keyboard is particularly interesting. Thank you!
This is a shame we don't have Rachmaninov's video.
Divine
Beethoven would be proud.
Huge musical personality . Have you ever heard arm chordal playing like this . Surprised that "the fingers with a brain each " actually has quite imperfect scale in second entry . Mitropoulos with Hofmann is even a greater treasure .I've never liked the early 1930's broadcasts we have of his Chopin concerti . Compared to the 1937 Chopin Grande Polonaise . The Rubinstein 4th concerto seems to be great music on the recording the; cd does NOT SOUND right - noone else makes this concerto so musically valid -need i hear Ponti and the amazing Lewenthal and a few others again ? Perhaps. . I was amazed that it was the recording I had treasured as a youth
Гениален Хофман!
This is a wonderful performance! Thank you! I don't recognize the conductor, shown clearly around 2:31. Any ideas? It's an NBC show, so they would have used the musicians from the NBC Orchestra. It looks a little like a younger Artur Rodzinski, but I don't know him well enough to make a clear identification. Other regular conductors of the NBC were Monteux and Reiner and Walter and Steinberg, and I know this isn't any of them. Maybe Perlea?
It's with Donald Voorhees and the Bell Telephone Orchestra!
@@pianopera Thank you so much!
This recording and video may have historic importance. As to music, it does not qualify for a serious comment. The sound is awful and the music is cut too short.
The sound could have been a lot worse than this, it's good enough to get an idea of how Hofmann sounded live at the end of his career.
@@pianopera Dear Pianopera: You are right. It could have been worse. I acknowledged the historic interest and perhaps historical value. I am sorry if I was too harsh. I have heard other old recordings of Hoffmann and there was enough musical information to ascertain he was a very good pianist. The present video amputates the 5th concerto to 5 minutes and the sound does not allow me to extrapolate how the piano sounded in reality; thus, I was unable to evaluate. I could evaluate (to some extent) in other ancient recordings. This recording and video made by Bell could have been played in short movie newsreels during 1945. I am grateful that you posted this material and grateful that you allowed me to temper my comment. Buona sera.
No problem! I suggest you try the new Marston release (Volume 9) of Hofmann playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata in 1936, if you haven't done so already...that has much better sound quality indeed. Cheers!
@@jorgeurzuaurzua4011 Video also gives the idea of a TV music performance in the 1940s... take into account the sound is written on the film (special track near the video frame) .... you cannot expect extra sound quality for this...
@@jorgeurzuaurzua4011 I think "good pianist" would have to be an enormous understatement. Hoffman is regarded by the finest pianists of the 20th century to be the best pianist of all time. His playing was prodigious and modern pianists don´t even come close to his mastery of the instrument. These sound recordings do not do him justice.
Wow. A great treasure. Thank you.