Josef Hofmann

Born Jan. 20, 1876, in Podgórze, near Kraków; died Feb. 16, 1957, in Los Angeles. Polish pianist, teacher, and composer.

Hofmann was the pupil of M. Moszkowski and A. G. Rubinstein. In 1898 he went to the USA, and from 1924 to 1938 he was a professor and director of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. From 1894 to 1946 he was a concert pianist; between 1896 and 1913 he appeared in concerts in Russia almost every year.

Hofmann was one of the world’s greatest pianists. His playing, displaying faultless mastery and technical brilliance, combined classical purity with a romantic poetic quality. His repertoire was unusually extensive, and he was particularly successful in performing the works of F. Chopin, R. Schumann, F. Mendelssohn, Schubert, and Liszt, as well as Moszkowski. He also composed works, mainly salon pieces. Hofmann wrote a book on piano playing that contains reminiscences of A. G. Rubinstein entitled Piano Playing, With Piano Questions Answered (1915; Russian translation, 1961).