"Safe bets" in unsung repertory

[Alan Howe]

Depends which genre you prefer. Try any of Symphonies 2, 3 4 or 5 (especially 2 or 5 in the Chandos/Järvi performances), Violin Concerto No.1 (Sterling), the two Piano Quartets (Divox), the Piano Quintet, Op.107 (Divox), String Quartet No.1 (Tudor) and any of Tra Nguyen's volumes of piano music (Grand Piano).

Here's Mark Thomas' comprehensive discography, with recommendations...
http://raff.org/records/discog/cd_sym.htm

Good luck - and do give us your feedback!

[FBerwald]

Three safe Bets for the Raff novice

1. Cello Concerto No. 1 [I dare you to resist this one!]
2. Cello Concerto No. 2 [Oodles and oodles of melodious surprises]
3. Piano Concerto [self explanatory once you give it a go]

[Ilja]

Joseph Marx: "Autumn Symphony". A hyperromantic, large, striking and ingenious work which will make a strong impression on anyone willing to spend some time on it.

Marx's Autumn Symphony seems like anything but a safe bet to me. It requires not only a certain familiarity with the idiom to appreciate it, but also a good deal of stamina to sit it out. One for the advanced customers, I think.

[der79sebas]

As I understand this thread, we are talking not about complete newcomers to classical music (no need to recommend unsungs to them; there the correct suggestion would be simply Beethoven/Schubert/Schumann/Bruckner/Wagner/Mahler/Strauss - well a few French and Italian composers maybe, too) but for people who have made themselves familiar with the romantic standard repertoire and are now willing to wander in more obscure realms. And there Marx' Autums Symphony would be quite good start to find out what's going on "beyond". As mentioned earlier, of course, it depends on the personal taste of the person you talk to.

[Alan Howe]

Marx's Autumn Symphony is far from a safe bet - more like an over-large, indigestible lunch (much as I love the piece). Mind you, if a person is used to sitting through, say, Mahler, he/she might be OK with Marx...

[mjmosca]

I completely agree with Alberto- the less well known works of Camille Saint-Saens are consistently beautiful, characterful and rewarding! All of the works that Alberto mention, plus all of Saint-Saens chamber works. And his unknown opera's - particularly Henry VIII and Etienne Marcel are excellent- [we still need really top notch recordings of the operas].

[chill319]

For someone who likes Brahms's chamber music, I think Thuille's Sextet is a safe bet. It's memorably lyrical, well constructed, and doesn't outstay its welcome.
For someone who likes early Romantic symphonies, I second, third, or whatever Berwald's Sinfonie singulière, especially by the Malmö SO under Sixten Ehrling. Berwald's musical ideas remain delightful and surprising even after multiple hearings. He's as original as Berlioz (though nothing like Berlioz).
For someone who likes early Faure (Vln sonata 1 etc), I suggest one of the Atma classique discs of chamber music by Dubois. Dubois really knows his way around all four of the standard movements of the classic sonata-suite, and he has something appealing to share that commands (my) attention, especially in works written after 1906.
For someone who likes Russian orchestral music, it's hard to go wrong with Glazunov's Symphony 5, the finale of which almost matches Tchaikovsky 5 for excitement; Glière's Symphony 2, full of memorable tunes and, in the first movement, an exciting development; or either of Kalinnikov's lyrical symphonies. On second thought, I'd recommend Balakirev's First Symphony before Kalinnikov. The Balakirev is almost as tuneful as Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherezade, and is at least as well constructed. The Beecham recording in early stereo makes a strong case for the symphony, as does the Svetlanov/USSR SO performance on the budget label Regis.
One could go on and on, of course.  As Alberto and others have pointed out, some sung composers like Saint-Saëns have appealing unsung works. And like Eric I'm a fan of Stenhammar. Just the other day I played Rimsky-Korsakov's Piano Concerto (Hyperion series) for someone just getting to know classical music, and I was surprised by how strongly they liked it. Their only disappointment was that it wasn't twice as long. Their enthusiam prompted me to revise my own opinion of the piece (listening to it with them, I enjoyed it more than I ever had before).

[Alan Howe]

That's an excellent and helpful post - thanks!

[Revilod]

If I were to choose one "safe bet" disc it would be Michael Ponti's recording of D'Albert's Second and Bronsart's Piano Concertos...both completely irresistible.

[Alan Howe]

Could you expand on that a little, please? In what way do you find them irresistible?

[Gareth Vaughan]

I find the Ponti/d'Albert very resistible, I'm afraid, partly because it is cut and partly because I don't like the recorded sound. Ponti plays it well. The Bronsart is a great big, hugely impressive "wham-bam" virtuoso concerto - big on tunes and big on bombast. I love it - but it would be good to have a recording in more modern sound. Again, Ponti is excellent.

[Mark Thomas]

Amen to the Bronsart suggestion, and to Gareth's comments.

[Revilod]

Well, I can dismiss one of Gareth's objections to Ponti's performance of D'Albert's concerto! It isn't cut even though the performance only lasts 15 mins 24 secs. Piers Lane takes over 21 minutes. But it's Ponti's spirit more than anything I like. What I like about the concerto is that it is so memorable melodically and so tightly written. Every bar carries the musical argument further. There is so much music in that quarter of an hour.  It would be very difficult to cut it. There isn't anything you could leave out! I accept that the recording isn't all it could be but I don't really mind too much.

Bronsart's concerto is also very strong melodically...in all three movements. It's tightly written and, although it's a virtuoso piece, certainly in the finale,  there's none of that meretricious writing, really padding, which disfigures so many Romantic concertos. My 85 year old mum loved the finale when I played it to her in the car! We do need a new recording,  though.

[Alan Howe]

Could we please establish whether any cuts are involved in the Ponti coupling? And if so, in which work? There seems to be a difference of opinion here...

[Gareth Vaughan]

Perhaps I am mistaken about the d'Albert being cut, but there is a big time difference between Ponti's and Lane's performances.  I will listen again.