clarification on dates

General questions regarding E.W.Korngold

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Bob Kingston
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Location: Portland, Oregon

clarification on dates

Post by Bob Kingston » Thu Oct 12, 2006 12:12 am

Hi all,

I'm trying to get some clarification on a couple of dates and was wondering if one of you might be able to me help out.

1. When did Korngold start studying with Robert Fuchs and when did these lesson officially end?

2. When did Korngold play his compositions for Mahler? June 1906 appears to be the accepted date, but in his biography of Zemlinsky, Antony Beaumont mentions "the summer of 1907," and, according to Alma Mahler, the visit occurred in June 1908.

3. When did Korngold's lessons with Zemlinsky begin and when did they end? On the latter point, Korngold indicated that Zemlinsky left Vienna for Prague in the summer of 1910, but Beaumont cites his arrival date as September 6, 1911, and the year is collaborated by a couple of other sources.

Thanks in advance!
Bob Kingston
Portland, Oregon
bobkingston@earthlink.net
Bernd.O.Rachold
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Post by Bernd.O.Rachold » Thu Oct 12, 2006 3:20 pm

Dear Bob, please let me start with your 2nd and 3rd question: June 1906 is correct. At the latest we got the confirmation out of Prof. Jens Malte Fischer´s marvellous book on MAHLER that indeed it was June 1906, like Julius Korngold himself confirmed in his memories (written 1942, published not before 1997 with my help as DIE KORNGOLDS IN WIEN) because MAHLER indeed spend his summer-holidays in Maiernigg since June 13, 1906, meeting the Korngold-family there, but started similar holidays in 1907 not before June 30! with his ill daughter Maria who died 2 weeks later. So 1907 would be an incredible possibility for Julius to promote his little Erich! (See time-table in Fischer´s book)- Anyway, Julius confirmed that he waited 1 year before he considered Mahler´s recommendation for Zemlinsky as the right teacher. So we have the autumn 1907, the beginning of the theatre-season 1907/8 as start of Erich´s Zemlinsky-lessons.- Just a few weeks ago Dr. Arrer, Salzburg, was able to "translate" one of Julius normally unreadable letters dated July 3, 1911 to Felix von Weingartner saying explicitely that "Erich is going to lose Zemlisky this year". You should know that AvZ started an OFFENBACH-HELEN-tour with Max Reinhardt at June 30, 1911 up to Okt. 26, 1911, so that we can be sure that the lessons stopped at the latest at the end of June 1911 and AvZ went to Prague with the season 1911/2 not before his operetta-tour. So Erich learned with Zemlinsky for c. 4 years. Longer than we all knew!- His next teacher was (unfortunately NOT Weingartner) Hermann Grädener.
Your 1st qu.: I do not know exact Robert Fuchs-dates, but perhaps you should read your copy of Brendan´s splendid book for details concerning more Fuchs, Grädener, Zemlinsky etc. - Regards, Bernd O. Rachold, Korngold-archivist and -chronicler.-
Bob Kingston
Regular visitor
Posts: 5
Joined: Sun Jul 30, 2006 12:23 am
Location: Portland, Oregon

Post by Bob Kingston » Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:24 pm

Herr Rachold,

Thank you so much for your response. The new insights into the dates of Korngold's lessons with Zemlinsky were very interesting, and they actually provided an indirect answer to my Fuchs question.

Speaking of Weingartner--The first four of his seven symphonies, along with some shorter orchestral compositions, have recently been issued on the CPO label. I must admit that I approached these pieces with some trepidation, especially since my previous experiences with conductors who also happen to compose (e.g., Klemperer and Furtwaengler) haven't been entirely positive. I was pleasantly surprised at how charming and well-crafted Weingartner's own music really is. These aren't pioneering works by any means, but they are well worth listening to if you have the chance.
Bob Kingston
Portland, Oregon
bobkingston@earthlink.net
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