Violin Concerto (Korngold)

Erich Wolfgang Korngold

The Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major is Opus 35 by the Austrian-American composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold .

Emergence

The concerto was composed from 1937 to 1939 (revised 1945) and was premiered in 1947 with Jascha Heifetz as soloist under the direction of Vladimir Golschmann with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra in St. Louis , Missouri . The work was well received by the audience, although there was also strong criticism, such as by Irving Kolodin , who wrote in the New York Sun that this concert was "more grain than gold".

Jascha Heifetz, the soloist of the premiere (photo from said year 1947)

occupation

2 flutes (2nd also piccolo ), 2 oboes (2nd also English horn ), 2 clarinets , bass clarinet , 2 bassoons (2nd also contrabassoon ), 4 horns , 2 trumpets , 1 trombone , timpani , percussion (2 players: bass drum , pool , Gong , glockenspiel , tubular bells , xylophone , vibraphone ), harp , celesta , strings .

music

The piece consists of three movements

1. Moderato nobile
2. Romance: Andante
3. Allegro assai vivace

A performance lasts about 23 minutes.

Korngold used many of his themes several times in his work. This violin concerto is a particularly good example of this. For example, the themes are taken from the first movement of Korngold's film music for Another Dawn (1937) and Juarez (1939), while the second movement cites Anthony Adverse (1936) and the third movement The Prince and the Pauper (1937).

Korngold himself said of his violin concerto that it was “more for a Caruso than a Paganini ”. This affect is underscored, for example, by the nostalgic cantilena with which the concert begins. However, it is soon followed by a much more aggressive topic.

Recordings (selection)

• Jascha Heifetz and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra under Alfred Wallenstein (RCA, 1954)
• Ulf Hoelscher and the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra under Willy Mattes (EMI, 1974)
• Itzhak Perlman and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under André Previn (EMI, 1981)
• Gil Shaham and the London Symphony Orchestra under André Previn (DG, 1994)
• Chantal Juillet and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under John Mauceri (Decca, 1996)
• Anne-Sophie Mutter and the London Symphony Orchestra under André Previn (DG, 2004)
• James Ehnes and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra under Bramwell Tovey (Onyx, 2006)
• Renaud Capuçon and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin (Virgin, 2009)
• Nikolaj Znaider and the Vienna Philharmonic under Valery Gergiev (RCA, 2009)
• Laurent Korcia and the  Orchester Philharmonique Royal de Liège under Jean-Jacques Kantorow (Naïve, 2011)
• Vilde Frang and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony under James Gaffigan (Warner Classics, 2016)

Web links

• Discography at Discogs

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Newer article in the New York Sun on a Korngoldkonzert. Retrieved March 6, 2016 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b work} information at Schott Musikverlag. Retrieved March 6, 2016 . 
3. ^ The Violin Concerto in the Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 6, 2016 .