Search - Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Danubius String Quartet, Ilona Prunyi :: Korngold: Quintet in E; Sonata for violin in D

Bravo, Marcopolo!

MATEUS ARAUJO | Belém, PA Brazil | 12/15/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I need to spread as much as possible the qualities of this wonderful recording, and I cannot conceive that no one here has done it before. First of all, we must remember this is a very sophisticated music of extreme technical difficulties. The Violin Sonata was written for Carl Flesch and Arthur Schnabel, two of the greatest virtuosi of the time - time of a 15 year-old Korngold! An incredible example is the scherzo, with the potential of the instruments explored to the limit, or maybe over. A curious thing is the resemblance of a theme in the middle of the slow movement of the sonata with the pop song "When I fall in love". That illustrates a visionary aspect of Korngold early works. He antecipated a couple of well-known melodies of today, not to say that he established the highest movie scoring parameters. The quintet is one of Korngold's most appealing works: again a great range of emotions, never disappointing. The first movement is delightful and deeply fresh, the slow movement is a song which is developed to the highest spheres of chamber music and the last is a touching display of vitality: drama alternated with "joie de vivre". It is more than impressive the commitment and expression of the artists in all these recordings, with a very honest and beautiful approach in all accounts (including sound, phrasing and intonation). I hope more people can get into this music with this excellent recording: it is such a jewel that can make me proud of human race as a supreme realization!"