Beethoven/Schreker/Korngold

With all due respect to matinée idol Errol Flynn, what would the 1940 movie «The Sea Hawk» have amounted to without its brilliant soundtrack? When former composing prodigy Erich Wolfgang Korngold went to Hollywood, he was not debasing himself in the depths of the entertainment industry; on the contrary, he elevated classical film music to the lonely heights of his own brilliance. Fabien Gabel has a declared soft spot for the music of the Viennese fin de siècle in the context of classical modernism and delights musicians and audiences alike with his rediscoveries – such as Franz Schreker’s sensualist «Vorspiel zu einem Drama» (Prelude to a Drama), the extended concert version of the overture to his opera «Die Gezeichneten» (The Stigmatised). What marks the beginning of the evening, by contrast, is imperial glamour. In the Beethoven year 2027, the celebrated Spanish pianist Javier Perianes returns to the Tonkunstler as the soloist in the Piano Concerto in E flat major op. 73.

PROGRAMME

*Ludwig van Beethoven: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 5 in E flat major op. 73
*Franz Schreker: «Vorspiel zu einem Drama» (Prelude to a Drama)
*Erich Wolfgang Korngold: The Sea Hawk Suite (arrangement: Patrick Russ)

CREDITS

Javier Perianes piano, Fabien Gabel conductor, Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich orchestra