NEW YORK -- Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Violin Concerto is vintage Hollywood meets old Vienna, a mix of the swashbuckling and the sweet. Korngold was perhaps Europe's last great Wunderkind, a prodigy to surpass Mozart -- with even Gustav Mahler declaring the young boy "a genius."
Seven premiere performances -- including several by cutting-edge music groups -- highlight next season's lineup at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, where six orchestras and four Broadway musicals will also appear.
"So Herbert von Karajan glorified tradition with his Salzburg Festival, promoted favorite musicians (violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and clarinetist Sabine Meyer come to mind) and amassed extraordinary wealth (not just millions, but hundreds of millions of dollars). He had his flaws, plenty of them.
Not long ago everybody's favorite classical-music gadfly, British critic Norman Lebrecht, wrote a fascinating diatribe anticipating the April 5, 2008, centennial of conductor Herbert von Karajan. Though Karajan has been dead for almost 20 years, Lebrecht took him to task as though the conductor was still the most powerful force in the classical universe.
May Day evening, and the lures of music were literally sirens calling from all directions. A solo recital by Jessye Norman? For May Day, one should definitely listen to the great left-wing composer, Frederic Rzewski.
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