Between Two Worlds is a documentary about the life and career of Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957). It’s very well done and worth the roughly one hour it takes to view. It seems strange that the film never mentions why Korngold was forced to move to Hollywood. The piece is in English, but has computer generated English subtitles which are 18 years old and hilariously inaccurate. Voice recognition software was primitive then. If you avert your gaze from them, you won’t laugh at inappropriate times.

Interest in Korngold and his distinctive music seems to be growing. The Dallas Opera did his Die Tote Stadt a few years back. La Scala did it in June of this year. Jonas Kaufmann and Marlis Petersen will sing the lead roles in Munich in November. The movie music gets better every year. Below are two Korngold selections, both previously published here.

Gluck, das mir verblieb
Ich ging zu ihm