Korngold’s comeback bid finally reaches Vienna
OperaIn 1951, Erich Wolfgang Korngold wrote a musical comedy titled ‘Stumme Serenade’ (dumb serenade) that he hoped would re-establish his former popularity in European opera houses.
It went out on Ravag, Soviet-controlled Vienna Radio, and was accounted a flop.
Three years later it was staged in Dortmund and attracted no further attention.
This week, the Stumme Serenade was performed by the Vienna Kammeroper and did quite well.
All it takes is time.
Just a quick clarification: the company known as Wiener Kammeroper is dead – it’s last performances (Milhaud’s „Le pauvre matelot“ and Anteil’s „Venus in Africa“) were in May 2011.
Since then, Theater an der Wien has taken over the theatre as a second, smaller house to be used primarily by its young ensemble for fully-staged performances of repertoire too small/obscure for its main stage on the Linke Wienzeile.
So the Korngold was performed at Kammeroper, but it was produced by Theater an der Wien.
It sure does. I hope more people will start appreciating his works. As I type this I’m listening to Heifetz playing his violin concerto which has long been one of my favorites. Absolutely gorgeous. Does he sound “Hollywood”? Sure, but that’s what makes him special.
The other way around. Hollywood sounded like him.
I didn’t detect any Korngold in Hollywood film scores until much later (John Williams). EWK had a unique voice as did most of them, but he did sometimes borrow himself, eg. Herbert Stothart (dense orchestration) in his music for “King’s Row”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKOYgr-gWZE
Ive alwasy felt (rightly? wrongly?) that Korngold et al ‘created’ the ‘Hollywood sound’.
“Stumme Serenade” seems like a fine alternative title to 4’33”.
Seriously, it’s good to read about the revival of Korngold’s opus.
The correct translation of the title of this charming work is The Silent Serenade.
If you’ve never heard it, Die Stumme Serenade features memorable tune after tune, each positively tripping over the next one. That’s how rich it is. The orchestration is very modest yet still conjures the unmistakable EWK sound. You can find the 1951 radio broadcast from Austrian radio on YouTube conducted by the composer. That’s the one to hear. The style of the performance is breathtaking.