The ‘Viennese Violinist’ Johannes Fleischmann gives heartfelt and deeply insightful interpretations of the music of Erich Korngold and Eric Zeisl, Viennese composers who escaped the rise of Nazism by journeying to America shortly before the Second World War.

Once there, both composers adapted their talents to the world of Hollywood, becoming defining voices in the golden age of Hollywood movie scores. 2020 marks the 70th anniversary of the premiere of the ‘Brandeis’ Sonata by Eric Zeisl, heard on this release alongside Korngold’s Violin Sonata. Johannes Flesichmann is joined on this album by pianist Magda Amara and, for Korngold’s song ‘Schneeglöckchen’, by baritone Günter Haumer.

There is a unique and fascinating story behind this release that makes it particularly special. In 2014, Johannes Fleischmann performed Korngold’s Violin Sonata in Los Angeles, in the presence of Barbara Zeisl Schoenberg. He was then invited to visit the Schoenberg House, on which occasion Barbara spoke to Johannes of her father, Eric Zeisl, and his ‘Brandeis’ Sonata, which processes his flight from Austria. Not only are pain and suffering given expression, but also an unbridled lust for life, coupled with jubilant hope in the future.

Johannes Fleischmann feels a profound kinship both with this Sonata and with Korngold’s, and, on the strength of his encounter with Barbara Zeisl Schoenberg, decided that it was essential to combine these pieces on record: two works separated by two World Wars, written by Viennese composers who were only able to establish their friendship while in exile from their homeland.

The Korngold and Zeisl Sonatas are framed by two early Korngold works: ‘Margit’ from the Vier kleine fröhliche Walzer, composed when Korngold was only 14, and ‘Schneeglöckchen’, from his 6 Einfache Lieder, op.9, on which the composer based the variations of his Violin Sonata’s finale. The release also boasts an expansive booklet, including insightful essays by Barbara Zeisl Schoenberg explaining the origins of her father’s ‘Brandeis’ Sonata, and by Zeisl biographer Karin Wagner.