Unsung music by not exactly unsung composers!

[Amphissa]

 
Rachmaninoff's First Piano Sonata is almost never played in recital and has had few recordings. It is as spledid as any of his piano works, but it is both devilishly difficult to play and is a test of endurance. Kasman's live performance during the Van Cliburn Competition was absolutely sublime. That is the only recording I can recommend (even above his later studio recording) -- and I've heard them all (as far as I know).

Rimsky-Korsakov's operas, especially Mlada, are filled with much of his greatest music, yet almost never get performed in houses and are rarely recorded to disc or video. All we hear are the suites. But fine as those are, they don't match the operas themselves.

Dvorak's symphonic poems do not receive enough concert performance or radio play. We hear the last 3 symphonies and the cello concerto and the Dumky over and over and over. But some of his best writing was in those orchestral poems.

The real first symphony of Sibelius, his op. 7 "Kullervo" choral symphony, is a wonderful work that has received some recordings in recent years, but I have never seen it listed for performance in the U.S. anyplace I've lived or visited during the past 20 years. I'd love too see/hear this in concert.

[TerraEpon]

I agree with absolutely everything in the above post. I've actually been trying to get a recording of Mlada for probably eight years now, but the only one I know of is the old 1962 Soviet recording which has never had a good international propagation.

The Dvorak symphonic poems are absolute favorites. They are everything a great tone poem should be -- melodic, full of color, and the music fitting the program. I can't complain about extended bass clarinet solos either

As for Sibelius, well he's in my shortlist of favorite composers, and I've been getting BIS's complete Sibelius boxes with vigor. He wrote so much marvelous music and it's amazing how much as been uncovered (I also absolutely love how BIS is being as absolutely complete as possible, as opposed to most of the other 'complete' editions which skip plenty of music). Even the minute long Lulu Waltz is a charmer.
Certainly Kullervo deserves as much a place in the 'choral symphony' rep as an Mahler...

(That bring up Mendelssohn's 2nd, which also isn't quite as popular as it could be)

[Gareth Vaughan]

I agree wholeheartedly about Sibelius' Kullervo - and, indeed, about Mendelssohn's 2nd Symphony (for which I've always had a soft spot - people sneer at it too readily). And I too can't understand why Rimsky-Korsakov's operas seem never to be performed in the West; they are chockful of glorious music. Perhaps it is their subject matter we find foreign... I don't know.

[mbhaub]

I think the problem in the west for any choral music (or operas) from Russia, Finland, etc is the language. Where do you find enough people do sing in Finnish? I totally agree that the RK operas are amazing and would love to see one staged. But then I'd also like to see operas by Prokofieff or Shostakovich, too. Even Schwanda the Bagpiper! But alas, at company after company, we get annual Bohemes, Toscas, Traviatas, Dutchmen and a few gratuitous things like Gilbert & Sullivan, Menotti or Carlyle Floyd. And yes, it's about selling tickets, too.

[JimL]

There are also logistical problems with some of the RK operas.  It isn't the language that's an issue - we still get plenty of Onegins, Pique Dames and Godunovs every season or two.  Keep in mind that Russian operas are really just French grand operas sung in Russian - they often have production  requirements that many opera houses just can't handle here in the states, where there are only a few companies that can accomodate the elaborate stagings necessary to pull them off effectively .  The same reason that you don't see a whole lot of Meyerbeer or Auber anymore is why you don't get a lot of RK.  The theatrical aspects and costs involved may be prohibitive.  I'm sure the story is quite a bit different in Russia.   

[JSK]

I am a big fan of Khachaturian. I feel like he has more great pieces than those which get recorded and performed fairly often. The ballet Spartacus has much more to it than just the famous Adagio (though some sections do ramble a bit) and the Gayane suites also have quite delightful, colorful, tuneful, and often quite poignant music. His second symphony is also quite excellent.

Borodin's Prince Igor is chiefly remembered for the Polovstian Dances, but I feel like the overture is just as good, if not better (although a lot of it was composed by Glazunov).

Kodaly's Hary Janos as a whole contains some excellent music not included in the suite, but this is not performed much outside of Hungary, likely due to the fact that it is more of a play with extensive incidental and some sung music.

Balakirev may or may not count as "unsung" but I'm a big fan of Tamara and the Piano Sonata. Balakirev's piano music sounds like what I imagine Rimsky-Korsakov would have sounded like writing for solo piano.

And speaking of Rimsky-Korsakov, the Piano Concerto and especially the Tone Poem Sadko are, in my opinion, just as appealing as some of his more famous works but are very rarely performed. I also am quite fond of the Antar Symphony, but not as much.

I also am a big fan of his operas, but mostly Sadko. It contains some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard. I cannot pass much judgment on his other operas because I have not heard them or have not had access to good recordings. I do have access to a library that has a good Mlada DVD, but I cannot check it out, so I haven't seen it yet.

[Gareth Vaughan]

I'm sorry to disagree, Jim, but, having worked most of my life in the theatre, I simply do not think that complexities of production have anything remotely to do with it. It is possible to stage almost any work for the theatre - be it play or opera - simply, cheaply and effectively. You don't need elaborate sets and stage machinery: you need to engage the audience's imagination. Once you've got that, they'll believe anything - after all, the act of going to the theatre (or opera house) involves the willing suspension of disbelief. The problem with Meyerbeer, I fear, is that so often the music is not good enough and he therefore needs a spectacular staging to make the work convincing (OK, that's a generalisation - but you know what I mean). Just compare Wagner's "Ring" - which hardly needs any staging at all because everything is in the music. I was introduced to Berlioz' "The Trojans" through the concert performances given at the Proms by Colin Davis in the sixties. Rimsky-Korsakov's music is in a very different class from that of Meyerbeer. And please don't think I'm advocating a Brechtian approach to theatre. I'm merely saying that, no matter how limited the budget, a really good director will find a way of staging an opera (no matter what the libretto asks for) in an imaginatively convincing way.
Alternatively, there is nothing wrong with a concert performance. I attended one such of Rubinstein's "The Demon" given by the Mariinsky Theatre, conducted by Gergiev at The Barbican in London, and was very moved. Indeed, if enough people enjoy an opera in a concert performance and make their feelings clear, sooner or later some enterprising opera company will have a go at staging the work.

[TerraEpon]

I can't imagine ANYONE classifying the Prince Igor Overture as 'unsung'. I hear it all the time on the radio and there's lots of recordings (Arkiv lists 28 releases, no idea how many dupe..that's actually lower than I thought it'd be). Borodin wrote some great unknown chamber music (discussed here before, probably on the old board), and I recently got the CD with the complete piano music on Brilliant -- it actually includes the other composers on Paraphrases (as well as Liszt's prelude), and is thus a VERY worthwhile buy.

And both Rimsky and Khachaturian are also completionist composers for me.
Rimsky's suites are maaarvelous. Christmas Eve is practically it's own tone poem, as is 'Night on Mount Triglav' from Mlada.

As for Khachaturian, well what I wouldn't do for more of Masquerade recorded...or ANY of the other incidental music that never made it to suite form. Or hell, a COMPLETE recording of the first version of Gayaneh once and for all...not to mention the original original version of it, the ballet Happiness.

[Pengelli]

TerraEpon. I'm with you there. I think you've got to be a bit of a
snob not to like Khatchaturian.At his best,a great composer.

[JimL]

Maybe this should be in another thread, but the finale of Actor's Violin Concerto reminded me more of Khachaturian than Shostakovich.

[Ilja]

I'm sorry to disagree, Jim, but, having worked most of my life in the theatre, I simply do not think that complexities of production have anything remotely to do with it. It is possible to stage almost any work for the theatre - be it play or opera - simply, cheaply and effectively. You don't need elaborate sets and stage machinery: you need to engage the audience's imagination.

To emphasise this point, I've seen and heard Pikovaya Dama done with less than ten singers and a chamber ensemble - and it was magical.

[Pengelli]

The RCA Tjeknavorian recording of Gayaneh is enough to make
me feel that this really is a major ballet score.

[TerraEpon]

The RCA Tjeknavorian recording of Gayaneh is enough to make
me feel that this really is a major ballet score.

Yeah, it's missing about 1/3 of it, is the amount I've seen quoted. Plus it's completely rearranged.
There's a complete recording of the revised version (released variously on CD on Vox, MSFL, Russian Season, and RCA/Melodiya) -- while some parts are missing (like Gayaneh's Adagio and the Russian Dance) there's a lot of stuff not in the Tjeknavorian, which I dunno how much is new, and how much is simply left unrecorded in the original. Most of it is less melodic and more incidental, but it's still a wonderful listen.

[Pengelli]

Yes,I am aware of this;but the playing is fantastic. It seems such
a missed opportunity.The fools!!!

[fuhred]

Lots of rare Tchaikovsky pieces on YouTube, check out the channel by quarrion100, and look for Tchaikovsky Rarities.