This (the piano that appears in the photo) seems to be the special piano he had made for him, with an additional soundboard in the lid, as you can see the small holes aligned in its underside, the abnormal thickness of the lid, and two props (an additional one towards the end of the piano; you can see it closer to you in the photo) to support the weight. It also had other modifications commanded by Hofmann. Someone who played this piano said it had a sonority not comparable to any other instrument... Has anyone noticed that?
For all I could find on the subject I couldn’t find mention of holes in the lid of his piano. The lid was indeed modified with a curvature. What we see in this picture seems to be a reflection on the lid. What’s interesting is that in a way ALL Steinways were made following several suggestions by Hoffmann, who was in a close relationship with the manufacturer.
IMO, the Welte System reproduces the best, if the machine is working properly. Hofmann was a phenomenal pianist and may have taken some artistic license. Thanks for posting this !
On the chords his fingers don't all go down at the same time & no one is fussing about it. Despite the "imperfection" this is so darned good. The golden age of pianism!
I suspect this is because Josef Hofmann had tiny hands. He could barely reach an octave. I would bet that these imperfections were barely noticeable in live time but were more pronounced in the rolls.
That's just delay/lag/latency due to imperfections of the playback system. The notes of the chords are supposed to sound simultaneous. I can actually see this on the Welte-rolls themselves that have collected over the years. In other words, the rolls themselves are more accurate than the resulting playback of these rolls. Nobody ever talks about this but it is true, trust me. Anyway, Hofmann's hand size was definitely not an issue.
@@an0rchy - Digitizing pianorolls is actually quite easy. The only thing you need to put some effort in is the system of dynamics and pedaling, which can be a little complicated, depending on the type of pianoroll. Over the past decades, Yamaha has digitized many Ampico rolls for playback on their Disklavier piano series and their reproduction grand pianos. They sound very good.
This sounds to me like an transfer for a 78rpm disc, or if not that then a very early LP. So the disc was a re-recording of a Welte roll performance? Interesting. There weren't so many of those. If it's a pre-war disc the roll may have been played back under the care of someone who actually knew how the system worked, in detail. A lot of the information about the recording side of Welte was lost in WW2.
This is not Hoffman's piece to play. The notes performed to the piano roll really doesn't come through very well. Hoffman's hands were just to small to accommodate the requirements of this piece. The unevenness of tempi is heard throughout, his inability to play those demanding descending chords in the Pilgrim's Chorus. No doubt, Hoffman was one of the best, if not the top pianist /artist of his time.
It's recordings like this that, back in the day, gave Liszt such a bad name. Hofmann treats the piece like a vehicle for his (admittedly considerable) skills, races through it and misses all the romantic grandeur it requires.
And you lived at the time of Liszt and certainly have 1st-hand knowledge of how "it must be played". If anything, this interpretation fits closer to how pianists performed in the Romantic era, the closing years of which were luckily captured on the piano rolls. I get that you and many people are shocked because the approches to music have drastically changed. Yet, this by no means gives you a higher ground to judge based on ephemeral and ridiculous notions of non-existent "the rules of playing". I never heard that Liszt was "given a bad name" by somebody, except for pretentious damfool "experts".
Michael Kaykov After seeing the short video clip and various other renditions of the famous piano roll it now leaves me to wonder how accurate this particular roll is as well. This roll has a high amount of variation for the complete exposure. There may have been a lot of considerations to make an attempt at fitting this on a single roll? Now, I believe this particular recording is possibly too slow in the excerpt video-memorialized maybe much too fast in slower sections as well... In general, very erratic when compared to his Beethoven rolls.
This (the piano that appears in the photo) seems to be the special piano he had made for him, with an additional soundboard in the lid, as you can see the small holes aligned in its underside, the abnormal thickness of the lid, and two props (an additional one towards the end of the piano; you can see it closer to you in the photo) to support the weight.
It also had other modifications commanded by Hofmann.
Someone who played this piano said it had a sonority not comparable to any other instrument...
Has anyone noticed that?
interesting. I’d like to find a recording specifically played on that piano.
For all I could find on the subject I couldn’t find mention of holes in the lid of his piano. The lid was indeed modified with a curvature. What we see in this picture seems to be a reflection on the lid. What’s interesting is that in a way ALL Steinways were made following several suggestions by Hoffmann, who was in a close relationship with the manufacturer.
i'm just glad to hear a technically brilliant and interpretively phenomenal artist play the piano version. thanks for sharing this!
Excelente. Más difícil ,independencia .de las notas altas que hacen de orquesta ..bellísimo y el acompañamiénto bien acentuado ...Bravo ¡!!!🙌. 🙌
Gorgeous!!!!
Magnificent
IMO, the Welte System reproduces the best, if the machine is working properly. Hofmann was a phenomenal pianist and may have taken some artistic license. Thanks for posting this !
On the chords his fingers don't all go down at the same time & no one is fussing about it. Despite the "imperfection" this is so darned good. The golden age of pianism!
I suspect this is because Josef Hofmann had tiny hands. He could barely reach an octave. I would bet that these imperfections were barely noticeable in live time but were more pronounced in the rolls.
That's just delay/lag/latency due to imperfections of the playback system. The notes of the chords are supposed to sound simultaneous. I can actually see this on the Welte-rolls themselves that have collected over the years.
In other words, the rolls themselves are more accurate than the resulting playback of these rolls. Nobody ever talks about this but it is true, trust me.
Anyway, Hofmann's hand size was definitely not an issue.
@@j.vonhogen9650 There must be a way to translate the piano roll to a digitised form (i’m wondering if the playback would sound more realistic)
@@j.vonhogen9650 I'm sure you're right.
@@an0rchy - Digitizing pianorolls is actually quite easy. The only thing you need to put some effort in is the system of dynamics and pedaling, which can be a little complicated, depending on the type of pianoroll.
Over the past decades, Yamaha has digitized many Ampico rolls for playback on their Disklavier piano series and their reproduction grand pianos. They sound
very good.
This sounds to me like an transfer for a 78rpm disc, or if not that then a very early LP. So the disc was a re-recording of a Welte roll performance? Interesting. There weren't so many of those. If it's a pre-war disc the roll may have been played back under the care of someone who actually knew how the system worked, in detail. A lot of the information about the recording side of Welte was lost in WW2.
Unfortunately...
This is not Hoffman's piece to play. The notes performed to the piano roll really doesn't come through very well. Hoffman's hands were just to small to accommodate the requirements of this piece. The unevenness of tempi is heard throughout, his inability to play those demanding descending chords in the Pilgrim's Chorus. No doubt, Hoffman was one of the best, if not the top pianist /artist of his time.
In your opinion… which happens to be dead wrong
Don't bully the handlets.
It's recordings like this that, back in the day, gave Liszt such a bad name. Hofmann treats the piece like a vehicle for his (admittedly considerable) skills, races through it and misses all the romantic grandeur it requires.
Votre anglais est trèa technique ! Please translate your comendt in french, german or spanish ...everybody don't understand english !! Thank You
@@francinegaltier9128 Yeah can't even speak English, I doubt he'll be able to translate, not that it's worth it.
@@francinegaltier9128, schade dass das Klavier nicht spanisch spielt!
And you lived at the time of Liszt and certainly have 1st-hand knowledge of how "it must be played". If anything, this interpretation fits closer to how pianists performed in the Romantic era, the closing years of which were luckily captured on the piano rolls.
I get that you and many people are shocked because the approches to music have drastically changed. Yet, this by no means gives you a higher ground to judge based on ephemeral and ridiculous notions of non-existent "the rules of playing".
I never heard that Liszt was "given a bad name" by somebody, except for pretentious damfool "experts".
quelle horreur! transcription lourdingue et interpretation sans âme.
Oh really?
that seems poorly contolled and arbitrary. He worked maybe not so hard for the money.
*in your opinion
It's so sad that such a great pianist to have played this magnificent work so poorly.
Idiot, it's piano roll, not an acoustic recording.
Even this piano roll is beyond belief. The textural changes are very interesting....
Michael Kaykov After seeing the short video clip and various other renditions of the famous piano roll it now leaves me to wonder how accurate this particular roll is as well. This roll has a high amount of variation for the complete exposure. There may have been a lot of considerations to make an attempt at fitting this on a single roll? Now, I believe this particular recording is possibly too slow in the excerpt video-memorialized maybe much too fast in slower sections as well... In general, very erratic when compared to his Beethoven rolls.
One has only to hear the sub-standard renditions of present day pianists to appreciate this performance.
Try learning English