Erich Wolfgang Korngold

Hi,

Thanks for this enlightening article...true and sad too. . It's about time this Wunderkind gets the recognition he deserves. The film mentioned in the article, "Robin Hood" was nominated for 6 Academy Awards in 1938, it won 3 of them.

One could track down Korngold's birth house too. It's in Brno, formerly called "Brünn." The address is "Kosice Strasse 95." The House/Museum of EW Korngold.

In Vienna there is a commemorative plaque on the house where he lived during his young years.
http://www.viennatouristguide.at/Gedenktafeln/pers/K/korngold_6.htm

@steven: Thank you very much for the link.

However, I think it wasn't so much Korngold's career as a composer of film music that he was not much noticed after the war (after all, it didn't hurt Kurt Weill that he wrote film music), but because his music had already been in the late 20's considered "old fashioned" (as the author of the article himself concedes). Yet history has meant infinitely better with Korngold than with with many of his companions in misfortune, because not only the "Tote Stadt", but also his smaller works nowadays belong to the repertoire in the German-speaking countries.

Other composers who are not inferior to him musically (or who combine romantic tradition
and modern styles even better), are still given much less attention;
to name just a few: Alexander v. Zemlinsky, Nikolaus v. Reznicek, Hans Gál, Egon
Wellesz or Viktor Ullmann; the last four don't even get
mentioned in the WP list of composers who were persecuted by the Nazis.

Hope you will enjoy your upcoming visit to the Bavarian State Opera!

There is another house in Vienna where EW Korngold lived afterwards and to which he returned after the war.

It's located on "Sternwartestraße 35, 1180 Wien" The plaque all in upper case on this house attests to that, "In diesem Haus lebte and arbeitete in den Jahren 1928-1938 und 1949-1951 der Komponist Erich Wolfgang Korngold."

The cross street is Gymnasiumstraße.

In Sept 1971 I was in the HI hostel a few streets way, ca 10 minute walk, on Pulverturmgasse and didn't even know of this salient piece of history, even though I knew of Korngold.

http://www.viennatouristguide.at/Gedenktafeln/pers/K/korngold_18.htm

Thank you all , I always enjoy reading your informed and detailed posts . Sla019 , I'm looking forward to The Bavarian State Opera , and have several performances scheduled in Vienna as well . wmt1 - The website you posted is truly spectacular , I keep going to it for sheer pleasure and the wonderfully detailed pictures . Just one of the spots I will seek out ( actually , a few streets from my hotel ) is this - www.viennatouristguide.at/Gedenktafeln/pers/M/meitner_2.htm While she received no credit at the time , this great scientist was the one who identified nuclear fission in 1938 .

Steven, the building, where the commemorative plaque for Lise Meitner is attached to, is her former school: the "Akademisches Gymnasium". This is Vienna's most renowned public high school, founded in 1553, thus Vienna's oldest school. The building is from 1865, looking somewhat similar in style as the City Hall, built by the same architect (Friedrich Schmidt). There is a long list of celebrities who were pupils of that school, e.g. Franz Schubert (composer), Erwin Schrödinger (Nobel Prize in physics).

wmt1 , Many thanks , It is this sort of information that makes travel continually exciting for us . In the interest of a bit of levity , if we go into the building , will the cat be inside ?

Steven,
it is no problem entering and visiting the school building. On school days (Monday to Friday, if not vacation) the building is open and can be entered by everyone. Regular lecture time is from 8am to 1:30pm. So you will find it packed with pupils in the morning, especially during the breaks between the lectures, and more quiet in the afternoon. Should somebody (e.g. a teacher or the school custodian) ask what you want, just tell that you are interested in architecture and history. You may ask whether you can visit the "Festsaal" (banquet hall) on second floor (if not in use at that moment); but you will need someone to unlock the door for you.

The building is an architectural landmark in Vienna, worth visiting, outside and inside. Over the time it appeared in several tv productions and movies.

If you scroll down the school's homepage to "Impressionen" there are a few pictures of details of the interior.

I will absolutely make a visit , this is just the kind of place that calls to me .