Korngold: Piano Quintet in E major Op. 15
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ALBUM INFORMATION
COMPOSER: Erich Wolfgang Korngold
TITLE: Piano Quintet in E major
ARTISTS: St. Lawrence String Quartet & Stephen Prutsman, piano. (St. Lawrence String Quartet: Owen Dalby; violin; Geoff Nuttall, violin; Lesley Robertson, viola; Christopher Costanza, cello)
TRACKS:
I. Mässiges Zeitmass, mit schwungvoll blühendem Ausdruck (Moderate timing, with a lively, blooming expression)
II. Adagio. Mit grösster Ruhe, stets äusserst gebunden und ausdrucksvoll (Adagio, with the greatest ease, always extremely committed and expressive)
III. Finale. Gemessen, beinahe pathetisch (Final. Measured, almost emotional)
(Translation of track titles courtesy of Kai Christiansen)
RECORDED: Bing Concert Hall, Stanford University, 2022.
CREDITS: Produced by Mark Willsher; Engineered by Mark Willsher and Dann Thompson; Aryahi Naomi Onaga, graphic design
SUMMARY:
Austrian-born Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897 – 1957) was an extraordinary pianist and composer of classical music, as well as one of the most influential composers for Hollywood films. His Piano Quintet in E major Op. 15 is an exuberant piece that showcases his genius; it is rendered in this album with unparalleled vibrance by the brilliant St. Lawrence String Quartet and pianist Stephen Prutsman.
PRESS RELEASE: Phenotypic Announces Two New Releases from the St. Lawrence String Quartet: Haydn & Korngold
AUGUST 1, 2023 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Phenotypic Recordings is pleased to announce the release of two new recordings by the St. Lawrence String Quartet —the last with cofounder and violinist Geoff Nuttall. Both albums capture magnificent performances by this distinguished ensemble: Joseph Haydn’s Op. 76, No. 3 "Emperor", Op. 76, No. 4 "Sunrise" and Korngold's towering Piano Quintet in E Major, Op. 15 with longtime SLSQ collaborator and friend Stephen Prutsman, piano. Read more
EXCERPT FROM PROGRAM NOTES BY KAI CHRISTIANSEN:
“The extraordinary 20th Century Austrian composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold stunned the world as a child prodigy, achieved international fame as a young man in the 1920s, emigrated to the United States after already having established himself as the father of the classic Hollywood movie soundtrack and ultimately left a small but breathtaking oeuvre of concert music…”
[His op. 15 piano quintet is] “in many ways a complete and successful reimagining of what a piano quintet can do, a worthy member of the canon of great quintets. Essentially, three miniature tone poems where Korngold’s orchestral and narrative gifts bring the breadth and depth of the late Romantics (Wagner, Strauss, Mahler, Zemlinsky) into the realm they scarcely broached: intimate chamber music. But Korngold takes it all further into his own idiosyncratic and magical sound world. It is easy, with the benefit of hindsight, to say that this music is utterly ‘cinematic’…”
© Kai Christiansen. Used by permission. See full article at https://www.earsense.org/chamber-music/Erich-Wolfgang-Korngold-Piano-Quintet-in-E-major-Op-15/