BSO: Hollywood Hit

About

Liszt’s solidly romantic tone poem is an exciting, vibrant work. With moments of “bucolic calm” and struggle, fanfare, roaring brass, horn calls and heavenly harp, it is a musical representation of the journey of life.

Korngold plundered his Hollywood catalogue for the most haunting, expressive and beautiful themes to create a concerto that would prove his prowess beyond a writer of swashbuckling movie scores. Its combination of full-throated lyricism and unbridled virtuosity made it a favourite with Jascha Heifetz and later violinists. Korngold develops the main theme in freely rhapsodic fashion, embellishing it with pyrotechnic passagework that ascends into the stratosphere. Symphony No.6 was the first of Dvořák’s symphonies to be published and the first to be performed widely outside of Bohemia. Clearly cast in the mould of Austrian symphonies, the rich colours and textures of the Czech folk music of Dvořák’s childhood are nonetheless present throughout and eventually burst through to dominate the rousing final movement.

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