Erich Wolfgang Korngold

[Roasted Swan]

Listening to this utterly spectacular symphony on a cracking performance. Now I understand the reputation this rendition has gained over the years, it's simply tremendous! Once again I'm especially struck by the slow movement, how poignant and beautiful it is, music to die for. My love for this work is much more cemented now, one of my very favorites.

For sure the slow movement is the aching heart of this work - a lament for lost Vienna if ever there was.  You are right this remains one of the very finest performances even though it was the first so by definition unfamiliar for the players.  But Kempe is a wonderful and insightful guide.

[Irons]

For sure the slow movement is the aching heart of this work - a lament for lost Vienna if ever there was.  You are right this remains one of the very finest performances even though it was the first so by definition unfamiliar for the players.  But Kempe is a wonderful and insightful guide.

Coincidently I listened to this very recording earlier this week. I enjoyed it so much I followed it up with his Violin Concerto which I enjoyed even more. There is otherworldly feel about the work which drew me in.

The problem for Korngold is his name. Smart-arse critics damn him with faint praise so being to appear witty (multiple times) with "more korn then gold".

[Roasted Swan]

Coincidently I listened to this very recording earlier this week. I enjoyed it so much I followed it up with his Violin Concerto which I enjoyed even more. There is otherworldly feel about the work which drew me in.

The problem for Korngold is his name. Smart-arse critics damn him with faint praise so being to appear witty (multiple times) with "more korn then gold".

Whose performance??

[Symphonic Addict]

For sure the slow movement is the aching heart of this work - a lament for lost Vienna if ever there was.  You are right this remains one of the very finest performances even though it was the first so by definition unfamiliar for the players.  But Kempe is a wonderful and insightful guide.

I was lucky I found it on YouTube. It cries out for a reissue!

[Irons]

Whose performance??

Ulf Hoelscher with Radio Orchestra of Stuttgart directed by Willy Mattes.

[Roasted Swan]

Ulf Hoelscher with Radio Orchestra of Stuttgart directed by Willy Mattes.

One of the first stereo recordings I remember and very good too.  Hoelscher was a fine player - his collection of all the (famously hard) Saint-Saens concerted works has stood the test of time too....

[Irons]

One of the first stereo recordings I remember and very good too.  Hoelscher was a fine player - his collection of all the (famously hard) Saint-Saens concerted works has stood the test of time too....

A fabulous box set which has pride of place on my shelves.

[Roasted Swan]

Just been listening this new release;



The Tippett Quartet play this terrific but horribly hard music spectacularly well.  As a demonstration of ensemble playing under duress(!) its hard to beat.  But the problem is they play just about all of it "pedal-to-the-metal".  In Korngold there is gentleness and nostalgia as well as virtuosity - often within bars of one another.  The Tippetts seem set on emphasising the technical over anything else.  The Dorics on Chandos give little if anything to the Tippetts in terms of address but are more atuned to the range of Korngold's emotions.  I noticed that the leader of the Tippetts is John Mills.  A John Mills - I assume the same person? - leads John Wilson's Sinfonia of London who seem to favour a similar fast and be dammed approach to swathes of their repertoire.  Perhaps Mills has caught Wilson-itis?

[lordlance]

Korngold wrote lots of orchestral music and film music. Which works and recordings are recommended that are more extroverted in character (aside from Kempe for the Symphony.)

[BWV 1080]

Korngold wrote lots of orchestral music and film music. Which works and recordings are recommended that are more extroverted in character?

There is the theme from Star Wars

[Maestro267]

Sursum Corda on Chandos. Plus you get the Symphony-in-all-but-name that is the Sinfonietta as well!

[Franco_Manitobain]

Enjoying my thrift shop find here, the Korngold quartets.  Unique chamber music.

I thought it was a 'first listen', but upon review in this thread, I had actually listened to this very recording over a decade ago via a library check-out.

[Karl Henning]

@Cato 

[Symphonic Addict]

Listening to the string quartets from this spectacular recording blew me away. It's been years since my last listen to these magnificent works, I barely remembered something about them, and today they revealed themselves as strong, cohesive masterpieces or quasi-masterpieces. If Korngold is refined in his orchestral writing, in these chamber works he is even more sophisticated. His use of some dissonances and astringent gestures aimed to highlight the sensuality, to enrich the intimacy in a way that one feels involved in the musical discourse; the slow movement from the String Quartet No. 1 exemplifies that very well, a remarkable movement. The Aron Quartett set the bar very high, so I see difficult that these performances may be bettered, it's playing of the highest degree and the music is treated with complete understanding. Serious fans of Korngold shouldn't miss this set!

[relm1]

Some seriously beautiful music here!

[Irons]

Listened to a BBC "Building a Library" download of Korngold's Violin Concerto. Vilda Fran came out top choice. More interest for me was the comment from the reviewer that although he uses themes from his film music in the concerto, Korngold's film music today sounds dated whereas the Violin Concerto transcends time and doesn't sound dated at all.   

[Spotted Horses]

Listening to the string quartets from this spectacular recording blew me away. It's been years since my last listen to these magnificent works, I barely remembered something about them, and today they revealed themselves as strong, cohesive masterpieces or quasi-masterpieces. If Korngold is refined in his orchestral writing, in these chamber works he is even more sophisticated. His use of some dissonances and astringent gestures aimed to highlight the sensuality, to enrich the intimacy in a way that one feels involved in the musical discourse; the slow movement from the String Quartet No. 1 exemplifies that very well, a remarkable movement. The Aron Quartett set the bar very high, so I see difficult that these performances may be bettered, it's playing of the highest degree and the music is treated with complete understanding. Serious fans of Korngold shouldn't miss this set!

I've had this set for ages (since it came out, perhaps) but never found time to listen. A 15 second sample of the first quartets makes it clear that this is my sort of thing. Must find time for it.

[Symphonic Addict]

I've had this set for ages (since it came out, perhaps) but never found time to listen. A 15 second sample of the first quartets makes it clear that this is my sort of thing. Must find time for it.

That will be time well spent.

[The new erato]

They are doing Die Tote Stadt in Bergen in November. I will be there.

[relm1]

They are doing Die Tote Stadt in Bergen in November. I will be there.

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