If the recording companies were watching...

[Alan Howe]

This is the report that indicated cpo were going to do the Herbstsymphonie:

In September 2007, Stefan Esser (Vice President of the Joseph Marx Society) met the Finnish conductor Ari Rasilainen who is mainly working in Germany. A few months earlier, Mr. Rasilainen already had received a mail presenting the Herbstsymphonie. Mr. Rasilainen was extremely enthusiastic when he saw the score and could easily persuade Mr. Schmilgun (cpo) of doing a studio recording of this work in conjunction with previous live concerts.
http://www.joseph-marx.org/en/current.html#cpo

[LateRomantic75]

Thanks for confirming those "rumors", Alan. Rasilainen is a superb conductor and I'm sure he could work wonders with Marx's dazzling kaleidoscope of a work

[Alan Howe]

Trouble is, there's been no news since - and no live concert(s) preceding a recording.

[LateRomantic75]

On a different note, I really hope some enterprising record label brings out the four Napravnik symphonies in the near future. I was deeply impressed by his Concerto symphonique and Fantasy on Russian Themes (featured in Hyperion's RPC series), which are big-boned, rather forward-looking works. There's also a fantastic Violin Sonata of his on YouTube. The two-piano score to Napravnik's Third (The Demon) is on IMSLP, so that's a start!

[eschiss1]

I seem to recall that Napravnik's 3rd symphony and some of his chamber music may have been recorded by Cesky Rozhlas, but commercial release is another matter. I'd like to hear the string quartets...

[LateRomantic75]

That's intriguing, Eric! Another composer who I believe is worthy of a recorded edition is Antonio Scontrino (1850-1922), whose role in the revival of instrumental music in Italy is largely forgotten today. He composed two symphonies, concertos for piano, double bass, and bassoon and other orchestral works, five string quartets, as well as other compositions. Now, granted, I haven't heard much of his music at all-just a very attractive (yet not the least bit slight) minuet from a String Quartet in A minor which Steve's Bedroom Band uploaded to IMSLP. The only other morsel of his music that seems to be available is the first movement of his Bassoon (!) Concerto in piano reduction on YT (which I haven't yet heard). I've glanced over the music of his held at IMSLP (including the full score of the mouth-watering Sinfonia marinesca), and I believe it holds great promise. Naxos seems to be taking much interest in the Italians these days; perhaps we should put Scontrino on their radar?

[eschiss1]

SBN-OPAC lists quite a few more works by Scontrino than I thought existed, btw. I should really try to draw up a bit of a worklist, or look for a book about him, or both. ... Anyway:

If you can stand MIDIs, a fellow sent me some MIDIs (I can post one of two links.. though yes, on IMSLP now I think) of Scontrino's 1900-or-so G minor string quartet which I hosted over on my own website (and have linked over to the IMSLP page of the work, absent anything better and all that. It seems quite a good piece.  I too wonder what Scontrino's other works sound like. I've heard part of a string quartet by Pappalardo, another of those composers from that period with a rare interest in chamber music (though he too wrote some operatic and other major vocal music as I recall- so did Scontrino, at least three operas in the latter's case) - anyhow what I've heard of (Salvatore) Pappalardo's dramatic string quartet (no.6 in C minor) was promising, but it could use an edition (a careful and good and useable one all three); the manuscript is quite a difficult read for more reasons than "usual" (I tried to start preparing a typeset but dropped the project, erm, ... erm.well, temporarily, anyway, I hope.)

Anyway. At the back of my mind there's some itch telling me "there's someone or something you want to recommend even more than any of this, but you keep forgetting" - though truth be told, the recommendations (or just-- things I really wanted to hear... ) I have made in the past and mentioned in similar threads back in Usenet days decades ago... (Dohnanyi's symphonies, Fuchs string quartets, e.g.) have actually been, to my pleasure and also surprise, largely been filled or (Jadassohn symphonies e.g.) seem to be on the way. So... optimistic ... (... how could I not be optimistic when even Miecz. Weinberg's quartets- yes, apologies, outside the forum, but in general "obscurity" surely an excellent example (one I know somewhat well, in part, I guess) - are recorded in full _and_ with some duplications- and his other works many of them in the process of so being- by way of example? ...)

[LateRomantic75]

Pappalardo...I've heard his name in passing. Looks like IMSLP holds a good bit of his sizeable chamber output. Thanks for bringing his name back to my attention! You are absolutely right that we have checked so much off our wish lists over the past couple years due to the enterprising recording projects of labels such as Naxos, CPO, Dutton, and others. It sounds so greedy to badger our good friends in charge of such record companies to record everything on our ever-dwindling wish lists, but that's our job, isn't it?

[Hilleries]

Adding to the list, I'd have to honour my username and say that a complete survey of Hiller's symphonies is waaaay overdue. Should fill 3 cds easily.

[eschiss1]

Hopefully all the Hiller symphonies all still survive, but it does seem quite a few - at least 4 of the 8 or 9 - do (and the Berlin libraries and others have some other works from his earlier years- which the earlier symphonies are- that could also go there, e.g. orchestral overtures, that seem well-done. In the meanwhile I think those chamber works of his performed a few years back may be already scheduled for commercial recording- I hope so.)

[musiclover]

Can somebody push the Arnold Cooke Symphonies in Martin Yates' direction. After what he did for Richard Arnell I am sure they would be up his street?
If anyone has contacts with him.

[Alan Howe]

Cooke's music would be well worth recording - but it's beyond our remit here, sorry.