MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

Not available in the USA


CD: Crotchet
Download: Classicsonline

 

Josef Hofmann: Acoustic Recordings 1916-1923
Fryderyk CHOPIN (1810-1849)
Waltz No. 2 in A flat major, Op. 34, No. 1, "Grande Valse brillante" [3:50]
Waltz No. 7 in C sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2 [3:17]
Nocturne No. 5 in F sharp major, Op. 15, No. 2 [4:06]
Fantasy - Impromptu in C sharp minor, Op. 66 [4:13]
Berceuse, Op. 57 [3:17]
Polonaise No. 3 in A major, Op. 40, No. 1, "Military" [3:12]
Fryderyk CHOPIN (1810-1849)/Franz LISZT (1811-1886)
Six chants polonais, S480/R145 (Chopin, from Op. 74): No. 5. Mein Freuden (Moja pieszczotka, My Joys) [3:55]
Six chants polonais, S480/R145 (Chopin, from Op. 74): No. 1. Madchens Wunsch (Zyczenie, The Maiden's Wish) [3:16]
Franz LISZT (1811-1886)
2 Concert Etudes, S145/R6: No. 1. Waldesrauschen (Forest Murmurs) [3:24]
Années de pèlerinage, 2nd year, Italy supplement, S162/R10: Venezia e Napoli: No. 3. Tarantella [4:41]
19 Hungarian Rhapsodies, S244/R106: No. 2 in C sharp minor [8:32]
12 Lieder von Schubert, S558/R243: No. 4. Erlkonig [4:34]
Felix MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847)
Lieder ohne Worte (Songs without Words), Book 6, Op. 67: No. 34 in C major, Op. 67, No. 4, "Spinnerlied" ("Spinning Song") [1:50]
Rondo capriccioso in E major, Op. 14 [3:46]
Lieder ohne Worte (Songs without Words), Book 1, Op. 19: No. 3 in A major, Op. 19, No. 3, "Jagerlied" ("Huntsman's Song") [2:10]
Moritz MOSZKOWSKI (1854-1925)
La jongleuse, Op. 52, No. 4 [1:39]
Caprice espagnol, Op. 37 [4:35]
Ignacy Jan PADEREWSKI (1860–1941)
Humoresques de concert, Op. 14: No. 1. Menuet célèbre [3:40]
Sergei RACHMANINOFF (1873-1943)
10 Preludes, Op. 23: No. 5 in G minor: Alla marcia [3:35]
Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3: No. 2. Prelude in C sharp minor [3:32]
Josef Hofmann (piano)
rec. 1916-23
NAXOS 8.111326 [75:05]

 

Experience Classicsonline


The period covered by this disc covers the years when Hofmann was coming to the end of his Columbia contract (from 1913-18) and was about to join Brunswick. The running order on Naxos’s disc is not chronological so, being grouped by composer and not date, it flits between the years. This has the happy advantage of allowing the listener to concentrate on Hofmann’s approach to each composer rather than chopping things into individual studio sessions. Purists naturally would prefer the latter but this single disc conspectus serves both them and the generalist well.

The relatively extensive Chopin selection shows how much the younger Hofmann’s performances reveal more of his grandeur and exalted status than the controversial 1930s inscriptions. The Op.40 No.1 Polonaise and Op. 15 No. 2 Nocturne are very different from the later, controverisial recordings and show a youthful perception and rich colouristic and architectural sensitivity and plasticity. The Fantasy-Impromptu in C sharp minor is sparing of pedal and wonderfully articulated. In the two Chopin/Liszt songs,  Mein Freuden (Moja pieszczotka, My Joys) and Madchens Wunsch (Zyczenie, The Maiden's Wish) the refinement of his vocalised legato is palpable. Hofman left behind two well-known Duo Art rolls of the Moszkowski pieces but these disc performances are inevitably their superior and show him in scintillating form. He is subtle in Mendelssohn, virtuosic in Liszt – his 1923 Waldesrauschen remains one of the great recordings of the piece - and if his Rachmaninoff must cede to the composer’s own performance in local terms – pockets of colour, exploration of the inner voices – the two Prelude performances remain remarkable.

I’m not disturbed by any surface noise; Mark Obert-Thorn manages to extract a considerable amount of detail at little cost in terms of hiss or swish. If you want unpublished Hofmann you will need to gravitate to VAI 1036, 1047 and Marston 52014. Similarly if you want the earlier G and Ts or the 1912 and 1915 sessions you will need to investigate further – that’s not part of this disc’s brief. By doing so you can listen to and contrast performances Hofmann left for both Brunswick and Columbia of the same pieces; his Waldesrauschen for Brunswick in this Naxos disc is the superior of the 1918 Columbia for example and the Brunswick Op.3 No.2 Rachmaninoff Prelude is again better on Brunswick than on Columbia.

Jonathan Woolf


 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.