I've just looked at the website referred to by Eric Nagamine and found
that one of the performances is Hofmann's Beethoven G major concerto
with Ormandy from 1938.  I heard his performance of the concerto from 1941
on Complete Hofmann vol 6 with Barbirolli.  Ward Marston thought it was
'unforgettable' but I was generally disappointed - H.  definitely musically
and technically below-par, and the accompaniment not very good either.
On the other hand, some other numbers from the 1938 Hofmann recital that
included the Beethoven Concerto with Ormandy appeared on Complete Hofmann
vol 5 and were possibly even more disappointing.  Compare Chopin Andante
Spianato and Grande Polonaise from 1937 - transcendent - and 1938 -
whizzing through on auto-pilot, with hardly any musical meaning at all.
Has anyone heard this 1938 Beethoven Concerto in an earlier incarnation on
LP (it's supposed to be new to CD) and knows whether it's any good, or how
it compares to the 1941 performance? My only hope is that H.  felt engaged
by the concerto and then slumped during the Chopin pieces after the
interval (perhaps he was already drunk by this stage - he certainly
sounds like it).

Felix Delbruck
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