November 27 - This day in history

This Day In Classical Music History
Nov 27, 1972: The posthumous concert premiere of E W Korngold's Symphony in F# Maj, with Rudolf Kempe conducting the Munich Philharmonic. Brendan G. Carroll, Korngold’s principal biographer has written, "This Symphony is one of the most demanding orchestral works in the repertory, and conductors and orchestras that approach it thinking it is an easy ride do so at their peril. It is in a very difficult key (especially for the strings) and the writing demands virtuosity from all sections. It is also a common mistake to try to make it sound like a Hollywood film score, which it isn't. The tempi and rhythm must be kept taut and when Korngold's markings are obeyed, it makes a devastating effect.”
The solemn elegiac Adagio is the emotional heart, and Brendan Carroll describes this as Korngold’s finest slow movement and has written that “many commentators have described it as the greatest since Bruckner and Mahler . . .”


USA, Scott Nr 3344 (1999)