The latest releases reviewed

KORNGOLD: DAS WUNDER DER HELIANE
Soloists: Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Hartmut Welker, Nicolai Gedda, Rene Pape; Rundfunk Chor Berlin. RSO,Berlin. Conductor: John Mauceri
Decca 475 8271
*****
Dismissed by contemporary critics as a composer of film scores, Erich Wolfgang Korngold is now widely appreciated, and the 50th anniversary of his death this year has been marked by performances of his works all around the world. He considered Das Wunder der Helianeas his greatest opera and masterpiece. Dogged by an impractical libretto, it has rarely been performed since it was banned by the Nazis, and only recently received its first London performance. This performance, originally recorded as part of the Decca Entartete Series (and reissued on three discs by Decca to coincide with the London premiere) shows the score to be both ambitious and intense. Its luscious harmonies and shimmering orchestration are similiar to later Richard Strauss, but it has a Mahler-like intensity unique to itself. This is a fascinating score in the romantic mould. www.deccaclassics.com
COLMAN MORRISSEY
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