John Wilson and his Sinfonia of London shine in an all-Korngold programme full of wit, romanticism, sensitivity, and virtuosity – an orchestral tour de force! Conductor John Wilson has earned a reputation for his interpretations of British and American repertoire in particular. He is a favourite of many of the UK’s orchestras and festivals including the BBC Proms and Aldeburgh Festival and is currently Associate Guest Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. John is also in demand across the world at the very highest level, conducting the major orchestras of Sydney, Berlin, Budapest, Amsterdam, Oslo amongst many others, and has a large and growing discography, covering a wide range of repertoire.

-----

REVIEW:

Wilson's performance of the symphony is one of the most athletic on record. Rhythms are springy and purposeful; the great Adagio really strives, as well as sings, and I’ve rarely heard it probe deeper. Every phrase speaks; textures are translucent and detailed (even at the dizzying speed of the Scherzo), and the string sound glows from within, with portamento very much at the service of expression. Wilson clearly sees Korngold’s Symphony (rightly) as part of the Viennese classical tradition. The result is both gripping and sincerely moving.

– Gramophone

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Erich Wolfgang Korngold regarded Das Wunder der Heliane as his greatest work, but the opera has been neglected since its premiere in 1927. This 2018 production from the Deutsche Oper Berlin features the American soprano Sara Jakubiak as Heliane, and the American tenor Brian Jagde as The Stranger in the award-winning director Christof Loy’s acclaimed staging. The Orchestra and Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin deliver the large forces required for this hyper-Romantic opera, under the baton of Dutch National Opera’s chief conductor Marc Albrecht.

-----

REVIEWS:

Das Wunder der Heliane is Korngold’s most extravagant stage work and one that he considered to be his greatest score. Written for a huge ensemble, masterfully used, the music possesses voluptuous sweep and hyper-Romanticism. Its intensity is emphasised through an intoxicating array of effects, propulsive rhythms and glorious vocal lyricism, its arc of climaxes building from one act to another. This revelatory new Berlin staging in 2018 enjoyed an unprecedented 20-minute ovation at its premiere.

– Opera Lounge

The performance is conducted with all the necessary full-blooded fervour by Marc Albrecht, and Korngold’s score emerges in all its richly chromatic, glittering tonality and overheated intensity.

– Telegraph (UK)

Erich Wolfgang Korngold was at the height of his fame and technical mastery by the time he began work on his fourth opera in 1923. Prominent opera houses clamored to stage his works, and the Viennese premiere of Das Wunder der Heliane (‘The Miracle of Heliane’) featured Lotte Lehmann among its star cast. Its story is one of the redemptive power of love over injustice and adversity, expressed in music that is richly impressionistic and intensely dramatic. Korngold was criticized for resisting the tide of modernist atonality in this opulent score, but its symbolism and compelling romantic atmosphere can be appreciated today more than ever. This Freiburg Opera production has a strong cast topped by soprano Annemarie Kremer, one of the most successful singers in the lyric dramatic soprano repertoire. Award-winning baritone Aris Argiris has established an international career, performing regularly at the world’s most prestigious opera houses.

KORNGOLD: Piano Works

KORNGOLD: Violin Sonata, Op. 6 / Piano Quintet, Op. 15

KORNGOLD: Another Dawn / Escape Me Never

Korngold: Tote Stadt (Die)

The precociously gifted Korngold followed in the footsteps of the great late romantic composers Richard Strauss, Mahler and Pfitzner, his unwavering commitment to refined melody, ravishing harmony and formal coherence earning him the reputation of a musical genius.

KORNGOLD String Quartets Nos. 1-3; Piano Quintet 1 • Aron Qrt; 1 Henri Sigfridsson • CPO 777 436-2 (2 CDs: 103:24)


“I feel it—and can’t comprehend it—can’t retain it—and yet can’t forget it; and if I grasp it all, I can’t measure it. … No rule would fit it, and yet there was no error in it.”


Hans Sachs’s rumination from the act II “Fliedermonolog” of Die Meistersinger is a perfect summation of Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s music. At once gay yet wistful, familiar yet elusive, inviting yet unsettling, it aurally distilled all the complex contradictions of fin de siècle Vienna, preserving it for generations to come and carrying it into exile in America after the debacle of World War I. If the waltzes of Johann Strauss Jr. embody a carefree present moment, the works of Korngold preserve and nurture nostalgic memories of a lost past, ardently clinging and seeking to re-create those, that it might still dwell in them rather than an alien present.


The four works in this set, spanning almost a quarter-century from 1921 to 1945, offer refractions of those memories over a generation. The Piano Quintet and First String Quartet, composed almost simultaneously, present two decidedly different faces. The Quintet acts as if nothing has been lost; it is gay and brilliant, with unabashed romantic ardor emphasized by sweeping runs in the keyboard part. The outer movements are energetic, while the lyrical second movement employs an utterly haunting, gorgeous theme from Korngold’s song “Mond, so gehst du wieder auf” (Moon, Thus Risest Thou Again) from his op. 14 song cycle Lieder der Abschied (Songs of Farewell); once heard, it simply won’t leave one’s head. The First Quartet, by contrast, is more introspective and even melancholic at points; its backwards longing has a certain assertive determination to it. A far greater reliance on chromaticism and freer employment of spicy dissonance give it a constantly edgy, unsettled character, with an antsy, off-kilter Intermezzo and quirky Finale that includes a jaunty, almost Vaughan Williams-like march fragment as a second subject (Korngold inscribed the movement’s opening page with a quote from Shakespeare’s As You Like It ).


The Second Quartet dates from the summer of 1933, near the close of a period of several years’ involvement by Korngold with operetta, and just before his first visit to Hollywood. It is a microcosm of melodic and harmonic devices that Korngold would employ so brilliantly in years to come as a composer of film scores. Given Hitler’s recent assumption of power in neighboring Germany, the first, second, and fourth movements would almost seem to be a perverse denial of reality. The opening Allegro epitomizes the skittish music of the Hollywood light romance; the Scherzo is all charming, gently smiling bustle; the Finale is, improbably, a witty, chatty waltz, but one of a decidedly un-Straussian character. All the more surprising, then, is the third-movement Larghetto, beginning with open harmonics like an icy chill (almost hinting at the Second Viennese School), eventually succeeded by a melody of melancholic yearning that seeks to cling to a wistfully remembered but unrecoverable comfort and security.


The Third Quartet dates from 1945, at a juncture in Korngold’s Hollywood exile when, dispirited by academic critical disdain and convinced his film scores were destined for oblivion, he had secretly decided to turn back to composition in more “serious” genres. Dedicated to a longtime friend and near neighbor in exile, the conductor Bruno Walter, it shows Korngold adopting a leaner, more astringent melodic and harmonic language. The melodic material is more fragmentary and questioning; the dissonances more frequent and unresolved. The scherzo has a jittery, almost neurotic character to its outer sections, as short, choppy interjections repeatedly disrupt an incipient moto perpetuo , from which a brief lyrical interlude provides only momentary relief. The slow movement bespeaks stifled grief and haunting bitterness over shattered hopes, with searing pain expressed by violins playing in the higher register as the viola and cello grind out clashing chords below. Only the finale, with its Stravinskian flavor and vigorously offbeat cascades of 16th notes, offers a somewhat hesitantly upbeat finale.


The only other complete set of the quartets is by the Flesch Quartet, originally recorded for ASV and now available on a budget reissue from Brilliant Classics. In Fanfare 23:2 Martin Anderson had high praise for its rendition of the Third Quartet and Sextet (the filler there instead of the Piano Quintet here). If those performances were more competitive, the budget price would tilt a recommendation toward the older set. However, the new cpo set completely outclasses its predecessor at every level, both interpretively and sonically. The Aron Quartet plays with immaculate ensemble and intonation, with far richer tone and irresistible zest and tenderness; the Flesch ensemble is almost lethargic in comparison, with its overall timings averaging almost 15 percent slower. (For example, the respective timings for the First Quartet movements are 7:26, 7:41, 4:42, and 8:07 vs. 8:47, 9: 56, 4:37, and 9:09.) Although its spirit may be willing, the Flesch is relatively weak. Henri Sigfridsson is a perfect teammate for the Aron players in the Quintet, which is likewise far ahead of rival versions such as the uninspired Marco Polo recording. The recorded sound is exemplary in every way. One complaint: This is shockingly short timing for a two-CD set. There is no reason that all three quartets could not have been put on a single CD, and another work such as the Piano Quartet included on the second disc. Nevertheless, this album is a stellar contribution to the ongoing and much needed Korngold renaissance, and is urgently recommended for all devotees of that once unjustly maligned but now belatedly appreciated master of late Romanticism.


FANFARE: James A. Altena

This set is available at a special rate: four CDs for the price of two.
The true historic impact of 20th century composers may not be known until their time is long past. The careers of eminent artists such as Erich Wolfgang Korngold lend themselves to debate. Korngold's start as a thirteen-year-old stage prodigy and his end as a Hollywood film composer do not reconcile themselves easily. However it is exactly this tumultuous career path that made Korngold's music the soundtrack of the bustling years to come.
Korngold's youthful success set a higher standard for his later work; the strides he made can be observed over the four-and-a-half hour length of this collection. From 1908 to 1953 his pieces matured as he struggled to recapture the critical triumph of his early years. His work with film gave his later orchestral works a pronounced, dramatic feel, expertly captured in this collection.

The music of Erich Wolfgang Korngold has enjoyed a major renaissance over the last three decades. He is no longer the neglected, unknown master, the hidden Wunderkind of 20th century classical music. Korngold in a nutshell can be encapsulated thus: Precocious teen and Wunderkind who composed too-beautiful music to be taken seriously at a time when modernism swept the cultural stage. When he died, Korngold was certain that he was and would remain a forgotten composer – at least in his homeland. As part of the greater trend of re-appreciation, the Bruckner Orchestra Linz, under Caspar Richter, made these recordings for ASV in the late 1990s and early 2000s (now available as 4-album box on Capriccio Label), pioneering efforts at the time and still much appreciated for the overview they give us of Korngold’s œvre, beyond the handful of greatest hits available elsewhere.

Second and last volume of Krongold’s complete String Quartets survey by the Alma Quartets. The disc contains the First Quartet (composed in 1923) and the Piano Quintet (1921). Music from Vienna raging Twenties in flawless performances by one of today leading string quartets. Ideal match between Alma Quartet and a specialist pianist as Severin von Eckardstein. Ritmo (SP) on first volume (CC 72869): The recording offered by Alma Quartet is the best available of these works for its understanding of the expressive world of Korngold; is perfect intonation and reading of these difficult works.

Erich Wolfgang Korngold wrote a significant body of chamber music (the Piano Trio and String Sextet are on Naxos 8.574008). His three String Quartets reflect differing periods of composition. The First marries impetuousness with enticing harmonies and rapt eloquence. The Second dates from 1933 and has great clarity and rhythmic impetus, with a full complement of Korngold’s lyricism. The post-war Third is more relaxed, unexpectedly juxtaposing the archaic and modern with a joyful conclusion. The acclaimed Tippett Quartet can also be heard in works by Bax, Górecki, Panufnik, Penderecki, Rozsa and Michael Tippett.

REVIEWS:

What the album emphasizes convincingly are the links between these supposedly discrete incarnations, while giving equal weight to the quartets’ intriguing accommodation of high Romanticism and a more experimental tonality. Throughout, the Tippett ties these threads together with infinite diligence and love.

-- The Sunday Times (UK)

These three contrasting quartets cover more than twenty years of Korngold’s creative life, from his post-wunderkind years in Vienna to his time in the United States as primarily a composer of Hollywood film scores. String Quartet No. 1 in A major (1922-3) was written two years after his huge success with his operatic masterpiece ‘Die Tote Stadt’ and demonstrates his mastery of the quartet medium. The opening sounds terse and astringent Hindemith-like but within two minutes the textures become lusher and we are in Korngold’s familiar richly melodic world. There’s a similar mixture in the Quartet No. 2 in E flat Major (1933) with a lovely ‘Con moto sentimento’ slow movement and a deft waltz variation finale. The 1945 Quartet No. 3 in D is a delightful work with a witty and catchy folk tune slow movement. The Tippett Quartet are on top form throughout and the recording quality is first class.

-- Midlands Music Review

The debut album of pianist Friederike Sieber, Seelenübervoll is featuring lieder from the late Romantic period and works by Alma Mahler, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Richard Strauss, and Alexander von Zemlinsky are performed. This production of five outstanding young singers resurrects the musical salon’s idea and gifts us a wealth of rarely performed songs. The turn of the century 1900 was a time “brimming” with sensation and an exuberant soul: the exceptional young performers enable us to feel extreme emotional states through their interpretations, which tell of an extraordinary and artistically fruitful epoch.

Once, driving in the rain, I had to pull over to the side of the road because I was so incredibly moved by the sublime music on the radio. The last movement of the mystery work turned out to be Korngold’s “Much Ado About Nothing” Suite — was so joyful and witty, featuring the horns prominently, that I was transported to a different world. This rarely performed work should be better known. — Mei-Ann Chen, Chicago Sinfonietta conductor (Pentatone)