The fact that so many distinguished recordings of Korngold’s works have appeared in the last few years must surely be an indication of the sheer quality of this music. Indeed, judging by the recent issues that I have reviewed, it certainly inspires some exceptionally fine performances from both soloists and orchestras alike, and CPO’s world premiere recording of Korngold’s first opera, Der Ring des Polykrates, one of the first issues of his centenary year, is no exception.
The thing that will astound most listeners approaching this opera for the first time (or indeed this period in Korngold’s career in general) will be the extraordinary mastery of both orchestration and vocal writing – not to mention the sheer melodic inventiveness – of a mere 17-year-old. The rather slight, though elegantly simple, plot (the libretto was freely adapted from a comic drama of the same name by Heinrich Teweles by Korngold himself) is a classic case of mischief-making. Wilhelm Arndt, celebrating his supreme good fortune at landing the lucrative and prestigious post of court music director, a large monetary inheritance, and reflecting on a blissfully happy marriage, is visited by a long-lost friend, Peter Vogel, who, envious of his friend’s good fortune (especially his marital bliss), goads Wilhelm into questioning his wife about any previous loves. Vogel’s premise being that a sacrifice to the gods of good fortune is necessary in order to avert the bad luck that must surely follow in the wake of the good. To cut a short story even shorter, Vogel’s plan fails, and he himself becomes the sacrifice as Wilhelm hands him his luggage and sends him on his way. In short Des Ring des Polykrates is a kind of comedic Othello with a happy ending.
As for the music, the opera is extremely beautiful throughout but one or two moments are especially worth mentioning for their Straussian, even Mahlerian, beauty – notably the declaration of the couple’s love (“Gab’s dir Mut...”) toward the end of scene 2 (track 2) and Wilhelm’s wife Laura’s rapturous “Schatz, jetz mus ich dich kussen” (scene 7; track 7). But it’s not just the beauty of the melodic and harmonic palette that impresses; Korngold shows us his superb grasp of pacing, plot control and structural cohesion too – as the booklet-notes point out one would normally only expect such skill from a more mature composer of operas.
The performances from Endrik Wottrich (Arndt) and Beate Bilandzija (Laura) are quite exceptional – everything one could wish for in a premiere recording – as indeed are the performances from the rest of the cast, and the Berlin orchestra under the direction of Klauspeter Siebel (a conductor new to me) play as though this music were in their blood. In sum, an immensely enjoyable issue.'