Josef Hofmann was hailed as the greatest child prodigy of his generation. A demanding debut concert at the Metropolitan Opera House at the age of nine was ecstatically received. The New York Times wrote: Josef Hofmann played, not only like an artist, but like a master. A pupil of Rubinstein, Hofmann enjoyed a phenomenal international career performing all over the world. These CD transfers show Hofmann at the peak of his powers spanning the years 1919-1929.

This is the stuff from which magic is made: Ludwig van Beethoven s Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73--known as the Emperor Concerto, heroic and powerful--performed by one of our most distinctive pianists, Hйlиne Grimaud.

Read full

It s always difficult to play Franck s two masterpieces, Prelude, Choral et Fugue and Prelude, Aria et Finale , since it is not intended to show off a pianist s virtuosity even though technical demands on him/her are still very heavy. Mr. Hough plays these pieces very nicely. His technique is exceptional (For example, listen to his Finale . Martellato playing is astonishing.). Also I heard his deep affection to these pieces. However, the best is Troisieme Chorale by his own transcription. Even though there are many transcriptions for this Franck s swan song, Mr. Hough s transcription seems to be the most well-written. He utilizes a wide range of keyboards in order it to sound like organ, yet plays this really pianistically.

Arcadi Volodos s reputation has been based on fire-eating virtuoso material, but he brings wit, poetry, and depth to this unexpected but very welcome foray into Schubert. All three attributes are prominently displayed in Schubert s first, unfinished Piano Sonata, on which Volodos plays the first movement melody with disarming lyricism and sets it off against the bolder, Beethovenian contrasting passages, which are done with a big, full-bodied tone and slashing accents.

This very fine Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto will come as a surprise to those who view Arcadi Volodos merely as a barn-storming virtuoso with few ideas and even less subtlety. His attack on the opening chords is big and bold, to be sure, but he never bangs, and once the first movement proper gets going he s noteworthy for the smoothness and flow that characterizes the first subject, and the very relaxed wistfulness with which he shapes the work s more reflective moments. In truth, Volodos and Ozawa have a tendency to let the tension sag a little in the movement s later stages, particularly just before the coda, but only very slightly.

Sigismund Thalberg, Liszt s rival, was one of the great pianists of the nineteeth century. Before an 1837 keyboard duel between the two, Liszt penned an essay charging Thalberg s music with impotence and monotony. Modern tastes have awarded Liszt the palm, but, as pianist Stefan Irmer points out here in his own booklet notes (in German, French, and English), observers at the time would not have been unanimous in that judgment. He includes a hilarious commentary by Heinrich Heine, not naming Liszt but praising Thalberg in terms that unmistakably refer to him: The frail women are no less fond of [Thalberg], even though he does not appeal to their sympathy with epileptic fits on the piano, even though he does not speculate on the extreme sensitivity of their tender nerves....

Dream Computer piano will turn your computer into a piano, do not need any musical knowledge, do not need to remember which key representatives of the notes, as long as the will to type, you can play professional piano repertoire.Unique support system allows you to play easy chords and music scores to deal with the paragraphs quickly, without having to deal.Scoring system would be intelligent to play for your score, each time at a glance the progress.Generate key sequence from MIDI file automatically.