Durban, South Africa – The young Austrian violinist Wolfgang David, who had made a great impression at his Friends of Music recital two days earlier, confirmed at this concert that he is a master of his instrument (which is a Guarneri violin made in Cremona in Northern Italy 274 years ago).
He played the 1945 Violin Concerto by his fellow Austrian Erich Korngold, and earned an ovation at the end. Korngold (1897-1957) spent the last 23 years of his life in Hollywood, where he became a successful writer of film music. This concerto incorporates some themes from his film scores, and the result is a curious amalgam of romantic, “atmospheric” and quasi-modern music.
Reactions to this kind of work tend to be highly subjective and can vary greatly. One member of the audience told me he thought the concerto was lovely; another said it was too “schmalzy” for his taste.
I found it attractive, and it was lifted to a quite exalted level by the superb playing of Wolfgang David. He handled the technical difficulties with apparent ease and produced a full, sweet tone, especially in the slow movement, where the violin is given a long stream of eloquent melody with discreet accompaniment from the orchestra. A memorable performance, but I couldn’t help wishing that we had heard this soloist in one of the great concertos by Beethoven, Mozart, Dvorak, Tchaikowsky, Elgar, Sibelius, et al.
