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28 November 2007 – 18 May 2008

The Korngolds. Cliché, Critic and Composer

There is hardly a family that represents Viennese musical life better than the Korngolds. Julius Korngold was the most feared and powerful music journalist of his day, hired by Theodor Herzl as the successor of Eduard Hanslick at one of the most important newspapers published in the German language: Die Neue Freie Presse. His son Erich Wolfgang was a prodigy compared with Mozart whose compositions as Die Tote Stadt became some of the most frequently performed of the interwar years. With the persecution of Jews in Germany in 1933 followed in 1938 by the annexation of Austria, Erich Korngold had the good fortune to establish himself in Hollywood. In contrast with others, he was able to build on a career that had already started off successfully in collaboration with Max Reinhardt and his celebrated film version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1934. Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s eventual claim to cinematic fame would be as progenitor of the “Hollywood Sound”. With two Oscars to his credit, (one for the legendary Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland) Korngold was able to receive the most favourable contract and conditions ever offered a Hollywood studio composer. The exhibition is built within the context of the father-son relationship and concentrates on the most important creative periods of Erich Korngold’s life: his years as musical prodigy; his triumphs as the composer and his world-wide success as arranger of operettas; his collaborations with Max Reinhardt; his successes in Hollywood and finally, his failed attempt after the war to re-establish himself in Vienna. Listening stations with examples of Korngold’s work as well as clips from various films illustrate his professional successes while bringing us closer to the private man, his family and unique circle of friends.

The Korngolds. Cliché, Critic and Composer

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