101 Reel-to-Reel Tapes 125: Erich Wolfgang Korngold ~ Die Tote Stadt

Erich Wolfgang Korngold - Die Tote Stadt
7½ ips reel-to-reel tape
front cover detail
detail photo of tape box cover by Styrous®

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I started the Vinyl LP series because I have a collection of over 20,000 vinyl record albums I am selling; each blog entry is about an album from my collection. The 101 Reel-to-Reel Tapes series is an extension of that collection. Inquire for information here.   

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Yesterday was the birthday of Austrian composer and conductor, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, born on May 29, 1897. He was a child prodigy who became one of the most important and influential composers in Hollywood history and a noted pianist and composer of classical music, along with music for Hollywood films, and the first composer of international stature to write Hollywood scores.       
 

I will write about his many accomplishments for his Hollywood films in later posts (so much for that). But I felt his serious work is not as well known, so, I've focused on one of his operas; in this case, Die Tote Stadt.   

 

 

Erich Wolfgang Korngold - Die Tote Stadt
7½ ips reel-to-reel tape
front cover design Paul Schott
  photo of tape box cover by Styrous®

Die tote Stadt (The Dead City), Op. 12, is an opera in three acts set to a libretto by Paul Schott, a collective pseudonym for the composer and his father, Julius Korngold, based on the 1892 novel Bruges-la-Morte by Georges Rodenbach.       

the libretto

Tracklist:

    Die Tote Stadt
A     Act I (Part I)     
B     Act I (Concluded)     
C     Act II (Part I)     
D     Act II (Concluded)     
E     Act III (Part I)     
F     Act III (Concluded)     

Credits

    Baritone Vocals – Benjamin Luxon, Hermann Prey
    Choir – Tölzer Boys Choir*
    Chorus – Bavarian Radio Chorus*
    Chorus Master [Director, Bavarian Radio Chorus] – Heinz Mende
    Chorus Master [Director, Tölzer Boys Choir] – Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden
    Composed By – Erich Wolfgang Korngold
    Conductor – Erich Leinsdorf
    Engineer [Recording Engineer] – Alfons Seebacher
    Libretto By – Paul Schott
    Mezzo-soprano Vocals – Rose Wagemann
    Orchestra – Munich Radio Orchestra*
    Producer – Charles Gerhardt
    Producer [Produced For Radio By] – Theodor Holzinger
    Soprano Vocals – Carol Neblett, Gabriele Fuchs, Patricia Clark
    Tenor Vocals – Anton de Ridder, René Kollo, Willi Brokmeier

Notes
WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING

includes libretto          

           

Label: RCA Red Seal ‎– ARL3-1199
Format: 2 × Reel To Reel 4-track 7-1/2 IPS Stereo Audio  Tape
Box Set
Country: US
Released: 1975
Genre: Classical
Style: Opera, Modern           

     

       

Viewfinder links:        

          

Erich Wolfgang Korngold                    

Hermann Prey            

Georges Rodenbach              

        

Net links:        

        

Erich Wolfgang Korngold Society        

        

         

        

      

YouTube links:     

   

Die Tote Stadt ~    

       Die Tote Stadt (complete) (2 hours, 25 minutes) 

          Die Tote Stadt(complete) (2 hours, 25 minutes) 

     

The opening reviews for Tosca were mixed. One critic described act 2 as overly long and wordy; another, that the rush of action did not permit enough lyricism (really?), to the great detriment of the music. A third called the opera "three hours of noise".    

Ah, but what beautiful noise!

The Renata Tebaldi ~ Tosca, reel-to-reel tape is for sale on eBay     

           

          

Styrous® ~ Wednesday, May 29, 2024 

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