Photo: Hollywood Conductor John Mauceri at a round-table discussion, organized by Exil.Arte at the Haus der Musik.
As the 50th anniversary of the death of one of Hollywood’s prolific composers drew nearer in November, Vienna became the center of a Korngold Festival, alongside the exhibition at the Jewish Museum, celebrating his music in concerts, film retrospectives and lectures.
The early career of child Prodigy Erich Wolfgang Korngold, born in Brno in 1897, began as a composer in 20th century Vienna, particularly after the huge success of his opera Die tote Stadt (1920).
Nevertheless, his colorful career in Hollywood, after his arrival in 1934, for Warner Brothers drew most attention to the émigrés composer in recent decades; the RSO Vienna conducted by one of Hollywood’s prolific musicians, John Mauceri, on Nov. 29 at the Konzerthaus, performed excerpts and arrangements of some of his most characteristic film scores. However, chamber works of Korngold, including some of his early compositions were presented in a worthwhile Matinee at the Haus der Musik on Sunday, Nov. 25.
