Erich Wolfgang Korngold was a renowned interpreter of the music of Johann Strauss II but (aside from one extremely rare 78rpm disc made in 1931) left no commercial recordings of his performances in this repertoire. I am delighted therefore to present this very rare recording, made in Hollywood in 1942. It's an abridged version of Künstlerleben, made as part of a sequence to accompany a party scene in the film THE CONSTANT NYMPH. The rubato, phrasing and effervescent lilt of this short recording demonstrates why Korngold was such a star on the podium, when conducting Viennese operetta, as he did hundreds of times in the 1920s and 30s. Totally authentic. Enjoy!
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