hr-Sinfonieorchester

Korngold won two „Oscars“ for his film scores, while Danny Elfman’s music is almost exclusively associated with cinema. However, the program compiled by Lorenzo Viotti is intended purely for the concert hall. And no one had to bend over backwards to make it work.

„I don't want you to pretend to be someone else. You are Danny Elfman!“ This appeal was made by cellist Gautier Capuçon to the successful composer, who is associated with such memorable film scores as „Men in Black“, „Spider-Man“, „Sleepy Hollow“, and the theme song for“ The Simpsons“. According to Capuçon, film composers often think they have to write differently when it comes to classical concert music – but he loves Elfman's unique style, as he knows it from the cinema. Danny Elfman took the cellist at his word – and allowed himself „a little humor“, as he says. „I don't have to be deadly serious every moment just because it's a classical work.“ As a result, the Cello Concerto, which premiered in 2022 and is effectively enriched with percussion and glockenspiel interludes, is the bright counterpart to Barber's „Adagio for Strings“, that emotionally intense string lament that accompanies moments of great sadness in so many films. Finally, Korngold's „Sinfonietta“ from 1912: the work of a 15-year-old, but already sounding so astonishingly like Hollywood – even though Korngold was still causing a stir throughout Vienna as a child prodigy. (hr-Sinfonieorchester)