This is the first volume of what is expected to be a complete
collection of the songs of Erich Wolfgang Korngold, the compositional
wunderkind, the young prodigy whose talent impressed Mahler,
D’Albert, Reger, Puccini, Saint-Saëns, and Richard Strauss and
many other musical luminaries.
This disc includes examples from his early years up until the
Shakespearean songs of his Hollywood years when his reputation
as a serious composer plummeted (‘more corn than gold’ was the
demoralising wisecrack). Reassessment came in his centenary
year, 1997, with the then current re-emergence and regained
respect for tonal music. There were also two biographies by
Jessica Duchen and more importantly that by Brendan G. Carroll,
President of the International Korngold Society (The
Last Prodigy – A Biography of Erich Wolfgang Korngold, 1997,
Amadeus Press ISBN 1-57467-029-8.)
The baritone Uwe Schenker-Primus illuminates the early songs
of Opp.5 and 9 composed when Korngold was only 13-14 years old.
It seems incredible now that Erich’s father, the stern Viennese
critic, should scorn them believing the songs to have no virtue
and the texts by Eichendorff to be of little merit. In fact
Korngold’s Op. 5 became his Sinfonietta for orchestra and it
was some years before the songs were published. Accordingly,
Korngold’s Op. 5 songs were cheekily given a subtitle ‘if God
and Father so wish’. The songs show an astonishing grasp of
the demands of the genre from one so young; they demonstrate
an extraordinary musicality and sensitivity.
Schenker-Primus, who sings these early songs, has a most attractive
timbre, his diction well-nigh perfect, so too is his control
and sculpting of the contours of these songs coupled with a
high expressive art. There is so much to admire here. There
is the exuberant joyfulness and romantic charm of ‘Ständchen’;
the delicate beauty of ‘Snowdrops’; the dark intensity of ‘Night
Wanderer’ described by more than one commentator as Korngold’s
‘Erlkönig, the impressionistic piano part of ‘Winter Night’
giving a remarkably evocative picture of wintry desolation;
and the magnificent melancholy of ‘From the Mountain’.
Equally delightful, if not more so, are the Op. 9 Songs Nos.
4 to 6 included here. The ‘Little Love letter’, inspired by
one of Korngold’s young sweethearts, Mitzi Kolisch, has a lovely
memorable melody and the despairing song of lost love that is
‘The Hero’s Grave at Pruth’ has an extraordinarily eerie atmosphere,
while the rippling beauty of ‘Summer’ has another haunting melody.
Of the ‘Four Posthumous Songs’ ‘Vespers’ with its insistent
tolling of bells in the piano part makes for a trenchant accompaniment
culminating in their most mournful and almost dissonant chimes
at the lines – “What is it about the bells today that makes
me want to cry? The bells, which mean that my life is dead!”
The concluding ‘The Genius’ forms an exuberant and cheeky finale.
Britta Stallmeister sings with enthusiasm and animation the
later songs in this collection. There is the romantic bliss
of ‘The World Has Gone to Sleep’ – “my love, I think of you
... I seek you in the stars;” from Op. 22. There is the gorgeous
melody that is ‘Immortality’; the strongly pictorial piano part
of ‘The Rushing Little Stream’, the endearing simplicity of
‘The Sleeping Child’ and the darkly dramatic ‘Stronger than
Death’ mitigated only at the final lines “the power of love
is stronger even than death” – all from Op. 27.
Stallmeister’s command of English is impressive in the nine
Shakespearean songs. She relishes the opportunities to colour
her voice to the five Clown songs from Twelfth Night. The cheekiness
of ‘O mistress mine’ is delivered knowingly - film fans will
remember Olivia de Havilland singing this tauntingly to Bette
Davis as the ageing Queen in Elizabeth and Essex. She invests
taunting irony in ‘For the rain, it raineth every day’. Of the
Four Songs, ‘Desdemona’s Song’ features another of Korngold’s
beautifully poignant melodies and is sung very affectingly here.
By contrast, ‘Under the Greenwood Tree’ and ‘When birds do sing’
are sunny, joyful and tuneful celebrations.
Klaus Simon provides consistently non-intrusive but illuminating
accompaniments and Cornelius Bauer’s helpful notes complete
a very attractive programme. The whisper is that the second
CD in this series is even better.
A delightful programme comprising the lesser-known Korngold
songs delivered to perfection.
Ian Lace
Track-listing
Drei Lieder, Op. 22 (1928-29) [8:04]
Was Du mir bist (What Are You to Me?)
Mit Dir zu schweigen (To Be Silent When I’m With You)
Welt ist stille eingeschlafen (The World Has Gone to Sleep)
Unvergänglichkeit (Immortality) Op. 27 (1933)
[10:35]
Unvergänglichkeit 1 (Immortality 1)
Das eilende Bächlein (The Rushing Little Stream)
Das schlafende Kind (The Sleeping Child)
Stärker als der Tod (Stronger Than Death)
Unvergänglichkeit 2 (Immortality 2
Songs of the Clown: Five Songs from Twelfth Night
by Shakespeare, Op. 29 (1937-41) [9:15]
Come Away Death
O mistress mine
Adieu, good man Devil
Hey Robin
For the rain, it raineth every day
Vier Lieder (Four Songs), Op. 31 from William
Shakespeare (1937-41) [10:20]
Desdemona’s Song
Under the greenwood tree
Blow, blow, thou winter wind
When birds do sing
Zwölf Lieder (So Gott und Papa will) (If God and
Father So Wish), Op. 5 (1910-11) [22:41] Das Ständchen
(Serenade)
Winternacht (Winter Night)
Das Mädchen (The Girl)
Abendlandschaft (Evening Landscape)
Schneeglöckchen (Snowdrops)
Aussicht (Outlook)
Die Sperlinge (The Sparrows)
Nachtwanderer (Night Wanderer)
Der Friedensbote (The Messenger of Peace)
Vom Berge (From the Mountain)
Waldeinsamkeit (Woodland Solitude)
Sangesmut (The Spirit of Singing)
Sechs Einfache Lieder (Six Simple Songs) Op. 9
Nos. 4-6 (1910-11) [7:50]
Liebesbriefchen (A Little Love Letter)
Das Heldengrab am Pruth (The Hero’s Grave at Pruth)
Sommer (Summer)
Four Posthumous Songs
Angedenken (Remembrance) [1:56]
Vesper [3:08]
Reiselied (Travelling Song) [1:22]
Der Geniale (The Genius) [0:56]
Britta Stallmeister (soprano); Uwe Schenker-Primus (baritone); Klaus
Simon (piano) 
