Erich Wolfgang Korngold

[vandermolen]

I just type the name in the search box.

That's much too straightforward for me - I prefer to go through the whole list and miss it anyway 

[Bogey]

There actually was an old thread....I started it.

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,316.0.html

Yes.  And I quoted it on the first page of this thread.

[Bogey]

That's much too straightforward for me - I prefer to go through the whole list and miss it anyway 

90% of the fun is the hunt.

[vandermolen]

Yes.  And I quoted it on the first page of this thread.

So you did! And I missed that too 

[karlhenning]

Oh, I think that Josquin is just being his ole contrary self - 

Yes, classic Captain Turd-in-the-Punch-Bowl "Josquin" . . . and right up there with reply no. 1, no less:

[karlhenning]

BTW, this very morning I pulled the trigger on my first Korngold recording, Gil Shaham playing the Violin Concerto.

[jlaurson]

Re: Shaham: That's a great recording, Henning. My favorite Korngold VC. And the Barber ain't shabby, either.

Here's an article on Korngold and his equally fascinating father that I hope will be of interest not just to Korngold newbies but veterans, too.

http://www.weta.org/fmblog/?p=241

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

And here a list of essential (and plain awesome) Korngold recordings:

www.weta.org/fmblog/?p=314

The Sounds of Korngold

[Siedler]

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! 

[Guido]

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)

[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!

[Dax]

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]

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]

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.

[bhodges]

This is a beauty

Agreed. Recommended by me in a chamber music thread once upon a time.

That chamber disc is indeed sumptuous - almost all his music is.

Thanks to all of you for recommending this recording, which I will get soon after hearing the Korngold live last night.  What a great piece it is!  (It didn't hurt that the musicians were excellent, most from the MET Orchestra.)

Anyway, I was going to look for a recording, and found this immediately.

--Bruce

[Guido]

It's a gorgeous recording and it's my favourite of his chamber works - such resourcefulness and fullness from the slightly odd combination, and finally the piano sounds like an equal partner in the chamber setting. Enjoy! The Schmidt with which it is coupled is remkarble too, less ravishing on first listen, but it is also a very fine work. Why doesn't Sony make discs like this any more?

[bhodges]

Yes, I was quite taken with structure and as you say, "slightly odd combination" (e.g., two violins instead of violin/viola), but it really works well in the end.  The "Groteske" middle movement was marvelous, as was the brief "Lied" that followed, but I liked the whole thing.  The pianist was Linda Hall (also an assistant conductor at the Met), a totally marvelous player.

--Bruce

[Guido]

But also the left hand piano restriction add's to it's oddness and charm. The Schmidt is a conventional piano quintet, symphonic in scope, but again the pianist only uses his left hand.

[bhodges]

Yes, that left-hand piano is quite original.  I kept chuckling, wondering if Ms. Hall or others ever "cheated" and used both hands.  The opening is so complex, it sounds as if it were being done with two.

The Schmidt I don't know at all (or really much of his music in general) so that will be interesting to hear, too.

--Bruce

[Scarpia]

Whenever I hear something by Korngold I can't help but get the feeling that there is a movie running that I'm not seeing.

[Guido]

Yeah, but at his best his music isn't just lush background music. And he's caught in that curious trap of having defined the genre - movie music sounds like Korngold, not the other way round!