Erich "Wunderkind" Korngold

Synopsis

Most composers have to wait for years before their works get performed by a major orchestra or opera company–but not Erich Wolfgang Korngold, a child prodigy who grew up in the Vienna of Gustav Mahler. After hearing the nine-year-old play through one of his compositions, Mahler declared Korngold a genius.

At age 13, Korngold’s pantomime, “The Snow Man” was performed at the Vienna Court Opera, and on today’s date in 1916, when he was just 18, two of Korngold's one-act operas “Violanta” and “Polycrates’ Ring,” were premiered at Munich’s National Theater.

Korngold came to Hollywood in the 1930s and wrote scores for 17 classic films, including a number starring Errol Flynn. Korngold, in his thick Austrian accent, called those action films “SVASH-booklers”. Korngold’s contract let him retain all rights to his music, and in the 1940s he began recycling bits of film scores into concert works, like a 1945 Violin Concerto, written for Jascha Heifetz.

Despite early fame in Europe and success in Hollywood, after World War II, Korngold’s music started to seem old-fashioned and fell into neglect, but two decades after his death in 1957, a major Korngold revival began, sparking new interest in–and recordings of–his well-crafted and appealing scores.

Music Played in Today's Program

Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957) The Snowman BBC Philharmonic Orchestra; Matthias Bamert, cond. Chandos 10434

Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957) The Adventures of Robin Hood film score London Symphony; John Williams, cond. Sony 62788

On This Day

Births

• 1871 - Dutch conductor Willem Mengelberg, in Utrecht;

• 1890 - American bandleader Paul Whiteman, in Denver, Colo.;

• 1930 - American composer Robert Ashley, in Ann Arbor, Mich.;

Deaths

• 1881 - Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky, age 42, in St. Petersburg (Julian date: Mar. 16);

• 1911 - Lithuanian painter and composer Mikolajus Konstantinas Ciurlionis (Gregorian date: April 10);

• 1937 - Polish composer Karol Szymanowski, age 54, in Lausanne, Switzerland;

• 1943 - Russian-born composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, age 69, in Beverly Hills, Calif.; A few weeks before his death he became an American citizen;

• 1949 - Rumanian composer and violinist Grigoras Dinicu, age 59, in Bucharest; He is best known for his virtuoso violin showpiece "Hora staccato" (1906);

• 1958 - American composer and "father of the blues" William Christopher (W.C.) Handy, age 84 in New York;

Premieres

• 1733 - Handel: oratorio "Deborah" (Julian date: March 17);

• 1801 - Beethoven: ballet "The Creatures of Prometheus," at the Burgtheater in Vienna;

• 1871 - Tchaikovsky: String Quartet in D, Op. 11, in Moscow, by members of the Russian Musical Society (Julian date: Mar. 16);

• 1879 - Smetana: String Quartet in e ("From My Life"), in Prague, by Ferdinand Lachner, Jan Pelikán (violins), Josef Krehan (viola), and Alois Neruda (cello); This was the "official" premiere, although a private performance had taken place in Prague the previous year, with the young Antonin Dvorák performing on viola;

• 1896 - Giordano: opera "Andrea Chénier," in Milan at the Teatro alla Scala;

• 1940 - Britten: Violin Concerto, Op. 15, by the New York Philharmonic conducted by John Barbirolli, with Antonio Brosa the soloist;

• 1951 - Douglas Moore: opera "Giants in the Earth," in New York City; This work won the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1951;

• 1958 - Rochberg: Symphony No. 1, in Philadelphia;

• 1960 - Cowell: Symphony No. 12, by the Houston Symphony, Leopold Stokowski conducting;

• 1972 - Bernstein: "Meditations Nos. 1 and 2" for Cello and Piano, in New York City, by cellist Stephen Katz and the composer at the piano;

• 2003 - Ned Rorem: Cello Concerto, by the Kansas City Symphony with Michael Stern conducting and David Geringas the soloist;

Others

• 1739 - London music publisher John Walsh the younger issues Handel's Trio Sonatas, Op. 5 London (Gregorian date: April 8);

• 1842 - The Vienna Philharmonic plays its first concert (as the "Vienna Court Orchestra") in the Redoutensaale under the director of composer Otto Nicolai, the director of the Vienna Court Opera; The program included Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, his concert aria "Ah, Perfido," and the "Leonore" No. 3 and "Consercration of the House" Overtures, along with other vocal selections by Mozart and Cherubini.