“Erich Wolfgang Korngold, on the other hand – composer of Violanta, Der Ring des Polykrates and Die tote Stadt – is the only true contemporary opera composer who has been able to balance the many different factors demanded by musical theatre. He is the only one who allows the voice to soar above the superb instrumentation of his orchestral writing, and he’s the only one after Puccini who has the courage and the ability to overcome all of opera’s many inherent problems.”

– Adolf Weissmann quoted in Forbidden Music