Erich Wolfgang Korngold

Started by tjguitar, April 15, 2007, 06:23:22 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

Josquin des Prez

Quote from: tjguitar on June 15, 2008, 06:14:51 PM
when it comes to Classical, the majority I listen to is British.

Ouch. I feel sorry for you.

mjwal

About Die tote Stadt & Das Wunder der Heliane: to get the full gorgeous passion of these works one has to listen to the 2 historical excerpts of Die tote Stadt recorded by Tauber and (in the duet) Lehmann (the singers at the premiere and conducted by Szell in 1924), and the recording by Lehmann of "Ich ging zu ihm" from Das Wunder. Some of the greatest singing ever recorded - das gibt's nie wieder...
The Violin's Obstinacy

It needs to return to this one note,
not a tune and not a key
but the sound of self it must depart from,
a journey lengthily to go
in a vein it knows will cripple it.
...
Peter Porter

tjguitar

I'm looking forward to hearing the new Phillipe Quint recording of the violin concerto:


vandermolen

Apart from the Symphony I like the 'Cello Concerto from Deception' very much. I recently found a second hand CD copy of Rudolph Kempe's fine Munich premiere recording of the Symphony.
"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Wanderer

The cello concerto is a great favourite of mine, as well (my recommendation would be Quirine Viersen on Arthaus DVD).
The new Naxos recording looks interesting; but my main interest lies not with yet another version of the violin concerto (Shaham and Schmid are not likely to be surpassed by this) but with the Schauspiel Overture, a charming piece that deserves as many alternative recordings as it can get.  8)

jlaurson

Here's an article on the big Korngold (Jr. & Sr.!) exhibit at the Jewish Museum in Vienna, overseen by the man who was responsible for Decca's "Entartete Musik" series:

Korngold Sr. & Jr. – Cliché, Critic and Composer

& my favorite recordings of Korngold

The Sounds of Korngold



Wanderer

The classic Leinsdorf rendition of Die tote Stadt has been reissued by RCA at budget price; not to be missed!

http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/product/NR_July09/88697446602.htm

J.Z. Herrenberg

Quote from: Wanderer on June 24, 2009, 11:58:25 PM
The classic Leinsdorf rendition of Die tote Stadt has been reissued by RCA at budget price; not to be missed!

Indeed.

Other essential pieces for me - the early Sinfonietta and the Symphonic Serenade. And Das Wunder der Heliane out-Tristans Wagner to glorious effect - the ending is literally 'out of this world'.
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

tjguitar

Never been much of an opera fan, but I enjoy his orchestral stuff. Should I check out the operas?

J.Z. Herrenberg

Quote from: tjguitar on June 25, 2009, 02:37:08 PM
Never been much of an opera fan, but I enjoy his orchestral stuff. Should I check out the operas?

You could give both Die tote Stadt and Das Wunder der Heliane a try. They inhabit a Straussian world, musically speaking, but with that magical Korngold touch. The orchestra plays a major role.
Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

Siedler

#50
Quote from: Wanderer on June 24, 2009, 11:58:25 PM
The classic Leinsdorf rendition of Die tote Stadt has been reissued by RCA at budget price; not to be missed!

http://www.mdt.co.uk/MDTSite/product/NR_July09/88697446602.htm
Unfortunately, it seems that this release doesn't include the libretto.  >:(

J.Z. Herrenberg

Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. -- Plato

Wanderer

Quote from: tjguitar on June 25, 2009, 02:37:08 PM
Never been much of an opera fan, but I enjoy his orchestral stuff. Should I check out the operas?

The orchestra plays a major part in Korngold's operas, as Johan already noted; a constant commentator as well as a protagonist. The soundworld is akin to R. Strauss with the melodic insidiousness of Puccini and inflected with Korngold's unique style.

SonicMan46

Don't believe that I'm a member of this thread yet -  ::)

But, I've been buying a number of non-movie Korngold discs in the last year or so - my most recent puchase shown below: 

String Quartets & Sextet w/ the Flesch Quartet - wonderful compositions worth exploring -  :)


Siedler

#54
Finnish National Opera is going to perform Die Tote Stadt next fall with Klaus Florian Vogt  and Camilla Nylund! Wonderful and with that cast I can hardly wait!  :o

Guido

Quote from: tjguitar on June 25, 2009, 02:37:08 PM
Never been much of an opera fan, but I enjoy his orchestral stuff. Should I check out the operas?

I don't recommend them - The two major ones, Die Todte Stadt and Das Wunder der Heliane are both sickly creations, utterly kitsch - like Strauss without the touching humanity - they aim at quasi-morality (which Strauss never does) and just lay everything on with so much syrup that the overall effect is bland and anaemic. There's something quite horrible about such consummately masterful kitsch - this is the most opulent of the most opulent scoring - 4 harps, celeste, pianos, etc etc etc millions of notes... however, for all that the harmony and melody is curiously unmemorable. Die Todte Stadt is the more interesting work, but Heliane is just completely overbearing.

I'm a big Korngold fan for the instrumental works which can be genuinely gorgeous and touching. I haven't got to grips with Die Kathrin yet - the other big opera (though it is much lighter in tone than these other two mentioned)
Geologist.

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away

Guido

And let it also be said that Strauss' operas are infinitely finer and more interesting (and I don't think all Strauss is kitsch obviously, but Korngold's operas are like Strauss when he is at his most flagrantly kitsch, but Korngold's characters lack Strauss touching and beautifully depicted humanity, so its nowhere near as stomachable - also Strauss doesn't try to pretend that he's anything but - "I respond best to sentimentality and parody" as he said to Hofmannsthal. He knew the line he was treading.)

(btw I'm partial to the commonly excerpted arias - "Mariettas lied" from Stadt and "Ich Ging Zu Ihm" from Heliane and also "Ich soll ihn niemals mehr seh'n" from Die Kathrin - each contain wonderful music and are about as much as is possible to take in a sitting!)

so much bracketing!
Geologist.

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away

Dax

Quote from: Guido on April 25, 2010, 03:12:54 PM
There's something quite horrible about such consummately masterful kitsch - this is the most opulent of the most opulent scoring - 4 harps, celeste, pianos, etc etc etc millions of notes... however, for all that the harmony and melody is curiously unmemorable.

You made it sound so appetising that I had to check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2x5NgtGSx4

jlaurson

Quote from: tjguitar on June 25, 2009, 02:37:08 PM
Never been much of an opera fan, but I enjoy his orchestral stuff. Should I check out the operas?

I empathetically disagree Korngold is not kitsch. The idea of kitsch is in our ears when we approach him.

Go ahead and try Das Wunder der Heliane. (Review: http://www.weta.org/fmblog/?p=155)
It's an astonishing opera.

That said, I'm less of a fan of "Die Tote Stadt"--partly because of a bad experience in the opera house, where I heard it (among others with K.F.Vogt, btw.) in Frankfurt and hated it . [Review in Opera]

Guido

Quote from: Dax on April 25, 2010, 11:16:18 PM
You made it sound so appetising that I had to check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2x5NgtGSx4

Yes this excerpt is gorgeous (I mentioned it in the post above), and Renee is the perfect voice for this repertoire in terms of her opulent timbre and ravishing phrasing (though the full role is unbelievably taxing and needs a Wagnerian soprano really). Probably the highlight of the opera.
Geologist.

The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away