The concert with the Orchestra Divertimento Viennese under its founder Vinzenz Praxmarer on Friday as part of the Salzkammergut Festival Weeks Gmunden was all about the music of Erich Wolfgang Korngold. Born 125 years ago, he was considered one of the last child prodigies.
His music was already used for a state opera ballet at the age of eleven, and he wrote his first two operas at the age of 19. Celebrated, honored and courted, he left Austria and became a pioneer of film music in Hollywood, winning twice the Oscar. The National Socialists banned his works, which were on a par with the operas of Richard Strauss. A continuation of the successful times away from the film industry was hardly possible after that. The main work of the evening, his violin concerto from 1945, was not only positively rated because of its film music references, its odor of bygone times and a largely traditional harmony. Nevertheless, with expansive melodies and sparkling sentiment, partly based on film music scores, and because of its technical challenges, it offers ideal material for soloists: on this evening Benjamin Schmid, the ideal interpreter. Technically it is far above the requirements and can therefore play with the melodic nuances. A rubato here, a little pause here, a vibrato savoring the sound there. And yet the impression of functional music transferred to the concert hall never arises, but rather the conviction that we are dealing with really great music, which is extremely difficult to accompany.
Praxmarer and his orchestra Divertimento Viennese knew how to score in the difficult acoustics of the Toscana Congress. During the concert, the 14-year-old prodigy’s drama overture op. 4 was played, as well as “Straussiana”, a version of Johann Strauss’ music with a touch of Hollywood. The details and precision of Franz Schubert’s Third Symphony, which was also performed, should have been given more attention.
Source: Nachrichten
