Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897–1957) was an Austrian-born composer of opera, lieder, concert works and Hollywood film scores. A child prodigy in Vienna who later took American nationality, he helped define the lush late-Romantic sound of the studio-era film score.
His ballet Der Schneemann caused a sensation in Vienna while he was still a child, and the opera Die tote Stadt made him famous across Europe in his early twenties. In 1934 he left Austria for Hollywood, writing scores he conceived as operas without singing, among them Anthony Adverse and The Adventures of Robin Hood.
His concert music often draws on those film themes, and the songs run through his whole career: early lyrics, the four Abschiedslieder, and the Shakespeare cycle Songs of the Clown.
Compositions by Erich Wolfgang Korngold appear on
Adele Johnston sings Wagner and Korngold Lieder
Adele Johnston, 1997 winner of the City of Melbourne Song Recital Award, sings rarely heard Wagner and Korngold lieder with pianist Andrew Greene, including Australian and world premiere recordings.