Who is Josef Hofmann from The Great Pianists and what is their importance?

Josef Hofmann is the name of a pianist who refused his teacher's "permission" to add to or change a piece played otherwise just as written. Hofmann's principle was that understanding the composer's meaning depended upon the exact textual reading and scrupulous playing of the piece as written. Hofmann played with classic purity and romantic elegance, which set him apart as flawless and greatest pianist of the century. Hofmann made his American debut at ten in November 1887 that he followed with a series of Metropolitan Opera appearances from December to February of the next year. His many appearances made the boy grow pale and suffer from "mental derangement" before he sailed to Europe in March to rest. His family settled in Berlin and then Dresden where he studied with Rubinstein until his Hamburg debut in 1894. He began touring and in 1912 played 255 different works in twenty-one concerts without repeating any. He was a legend for craftsmanship and polish and played his last concert in 1948.