Josef Hofmann

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Josef Casimir Hofmann (originally Józef Hofmann; January 20, 1876 – February 16, 1957) was a Polish American pianist, composer, musician, and entrepreneur.

Education in music

Hofmann's gift enabled him to continue individual study in science and mathematics, as well as music lessons from Heinrich Urban (composition) and Moritz Moszkowski, the pianist and composer. Rubinstein accepted Hofmann as his sole private pupil in 1892, after the two meeting in Dresden's Hotel d'Europe for 42 sessions. Ten Bach Preludes and Fugues, as well as two Beethoven sonatas, were among the first lessons, a week apart. Hofmann was never allowed to bring the same piece twice, as Rubinstein said as a teacher, he would probably forget what he told the student during the previous lesson. Rubinstein never played for Hofmann, but he gave ample evidence of his pianistic outlook during several recitals the boy heard. Hofmann attended Bechstein Hall recitals in Berlin by Hans von Bülow, Johannes Brahms, and Rubinstein, among other things, who talked about their dramatically different playing styles. In Hamburg's Symphonic Assembly Hall, Rubinstein arranged Hofmann's adult debut on March 14, 1894, the piece being Rubinstein's Piano Concerto No. 145. With the composer as the conductor, we have 4 in D minor. Rubinstein told Hofmann that there will be no more lessons, and that they never saw each other again after the show. Rubinstein returned to Russia and died later this year. Hofmann referred to his friendship with the tyrant Russian master as the "most significant event in my life" in later years. "Italian women were the subject of a very cruel murder."

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Career as a child prodigy

Anton Rubinstein saw the seven-year-old Hofmann perform Beethoven's C minor Piano Concerto in Warsaw and declared him to be an extraordinary performer. At Rubinstein's suggestion, German impresario Hermann Wolff offered career guidance and even offered to fly the child on a European tour, but Hofmann's father refused to allow the child to travel until he was nine years old. Hofmann performed in Germany, France, Holland, Norway, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

Young Josef Hofmann, perhaps the first pianist of note to record on Edison's phonograph, was in fact Thomas von Bülow, who made a Chopin Mazurka on Edison's new phonograph the same year, i.e. 1888.

An American tour was arranged in 1887, with three months of performances, seventeen of which were at the Metropolitan Opera House. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children stepped in just a few weeks after, citing the boy's fragile health. However, he was legally obliged to finish the tour as a result of the salary that had paid Hofmann $10,000. Alfred Corning Clark, who donated $50,000, made the arrangement nullified, and in turn, the court barred Hofmann from performing in public until he turned 18 years old. The family's family returned to Potsdam, outside Berlin, after the last segment of the tour was postponed. Hofmann's child prodigy years came to an end. (See and for more information.)

Hofmann at the end of his career

Hofmann had become an alcoholic by the 1930s, but he maintained outstanding pianistic control throughout the decade; Rudolf Serkin and a young Glenn Gould have recounted magical impressions created on them by Hofmann's concerts in the mid and late 1930s. A rapid decline in his artistic abilities after his expulsion from the Curtis Institute in 1938 caused by a combination of his drinking, marital issues, and a lack of interest in performing. Sergei Rachmaninoff said of Hofmann's recent decline, "Hofmann is still sky high," he said, "the greatest pianist alive if he is sober and in form." Otherwise, it's impossible to recognize the Hofmann of old." "Understandable tragedies of music, including Josef Hofmann's disintegration as an artist," Oscar Levant wrote. He became an alcoholic in his twenties. [H]was the last public concert for any of us."

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