I just stumbled across the overture to the opera Cherevichki (The Slippers), a four act (I presume comic) opera, Op. 14. Ab-so-lute-ly delightful overture, and totally unknown to me. Anybody know anything about the rest of the opera?
Ha! I devoted yesterday evening to listening to the complete opera extracted from the enormous 60CD box of Tchaikovsky, and now released by Brilliant Classics in a handsome little box containing 3 CDs. It is the Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, with Russian singers and conducted by Rozhdestvensky. The flimiest of librettos, but no matter for it is a delightful opera full of enchanting (and sometimes quite silly!) things. And - a curious price comparison - being a Brilliant Classics production it can be obtained for the same cost as a packet of fags.
By coincidence the set is reviewed on MusicWeb this morning.
Quote from: petershott@btinternet.com on Sunday 29 July 2012, 12:12
a packet of fags.
i.e. cigarettes, lest there be any misunderstanding across the pond...
Ahem, there speaks a professional linguist fully sensitive to the nuances of language.
Oops, I am clearly the most innocent and naive of fellows! Dangerous things are words. Thank you for saving me from further ignominy.
It's just that I have had funny looks from our US cousins when this particular word has come up in conversation.
I presumed it was a comedy. I believe the play is by Gogol, who wrote mostly, if not all, comedies, not?
compactly-packaged bassoons?
The history of how the word became American slang for male homosexual was recently recounted to me. It isn't a pretty one.
OK, moving on...
As a bassoonist, I get it all the time. I thought of personalizing my license plate as KFAG (contrabassoon) but sanity prevailed. Watching the Olympics has been a real education in terms of British vs American terms. Flat. Lift. Hoover.
In the meanwhile, returning to obscure Tchaikovsky: the BBC did a Tchaikovsky programme a few years back, in which they broadcast a wide array of unknown operas:
- Fragments from Dmitri the Impostor and Valery Shuishki (1867)
- Iolanta
- Vakula the Blacksmith (the ur-version of Cherevichki, IIRC, with Patricia 'Mrs. Bucket' Routledge as narrator)
- The Enchantress
- The Maid of Orleans
- Fragments from Undine
- The Voyevoda
In all, I was quite surprised by the quality of these, particularly Voyevoda and Vakula. A shame that only Onegin and Pikovaya Dama are ever performed (and the odd Mazepa).
Quote from: mbhaub on Wednesday 01 August 2012, 05:43
As a bassoonist, I get it all the time. I thought of personalizing my license plate as KFAG (contrabassoon) but sanity prevailed. Watching the Olympics has been a real education in terms of British vs American terms. Flat. Lift. Hoover.
When I was a kid, back in me old pot-smoking days, hoover was synonymous with bogart (or humphrey). :D
Right. Yes. Moving on...
I managed to record a lot of the BBC Tchaikovsky week including Vakula the Smith which is excellent. It's not commercially available so it could, perhaps, be uploaded here but is long at 2hrs 23 mins.
Quotea packet of fags.Quotei.e. cigarettes, lest there be any misunderstanding across the pond...
Yes. Here we would say a
boatload of fags.
Please, hattoff, do upload as much as you are willing to do!!!! :D
I uploaded a lot of my own recordings of this BBC week a year ago but most files are in dismal quality because I had such a bad internet connection.
I am most interested in a recording of Vakula and the 2nd version of Romeo and Juliet - if you have it.
I've already uploaded two unusual works from the BBC's Tchaikovsky week: the original 1866 version of the Symphony No.1 and the Concert Overture in C minor from the same year. They're here (http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,1196.msg36595.html#msg36595).
Thank you, Mark! :D
I hadn't downloaded these files because I had not realised that these were your own versions.
For some strange reason - unexplicable to myself - I had assumed that you had uploaded the same file of Symphony No. 1 which I had uploaded earlier. You hadn't commented on your upload that this was actually a better-quality recording to replace my older one!
Thanks again!
Hi British composer, I will upload Vakula later today.
I'm a bit muddled with the Romeo, do you mean the one with the vocals? which I have and and will upload, or if it is another orchestral version then I missed it. My computer had problems halfway through the week which took me half a day to fix. I know I missed some of the sacred choral music e.g the several cherubic hymns.
If there's anything else you want let me know and, if I have it, it's yours.
A better-quality recording of Vakula would be fine indeed but there is no need to hurry!
Thanks in advance!
Yes, there has been a broadcast of the 2nd orchestral version of Romeo and Juliet.
Here is the link to my earlier uploads, including this version.
Perhaps you will find a few more things which you missed:
http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,1234.0.html (http://www.unsungcomposers.com/forum/index.php/topic,1234.0.html)
I missed to record the choral works, too, I couldn't even find out when they had been broadcast - if they had at all.
Britishcomposer,
How did I miss your previos uploads???
I've uploaded Vakula and it's awaiting moderation. The sound quality is very good I'm pleased to say.
The choral music was aired; here is a full list of everything that was broadcast which might prove helpful or just annoy us, as we won't be able to easily get any missing ones.
Title Broadcast Slot
12 morceaux (difficulté moyenne) (op.40) Thu 15 1-7am
12 Romances (op.60) Thu 15 1-7am
16 Songs for Children (op.54) Wed 14 1-7am
18 morceaux [1 – 3] (op.72) Sun 11 5-7.30pm
18 morceaux [10 – 12] (op.72) Wed 14 5-7.30pm
18 morceaux [13 – 15] (op.72) Thu 15 5-7.30pm
18 morceaux [16 - 18] (op.72) Fri 16 5-7.30pm
18 morceaux [4 – 6] (op.72) Mon 12 5-7.30pm
18 morceaux [7 – 9] (op.72) Tue 13 5-7.30pm
1812 Overture (op.49) Fri 16 7-10am
1812 Overture (op.49) (with chorus) - Live Fri 16 7.30-9.30pm
3 Cherubic Hymns Mon 12 10.30pm-1am
3 morceaux (op.9) Tue 13 1-5pm
50 Russian Folksongs Sun 11 Feb 1-7am
6 Duets (op.46) (no.6 orch by T) Wed 14 1-7am
6 mélodies (op.65) Fri 16 1-7am
6 morceaux (op.19) (no. 4 arr cello & orch) Mon 12 1-7am
6 morceaux (op.51) Fri 16 1-7am
6 morceaux, composés sur un seul theme (op.21) Wed 14 1-7am
6 Romances (op.16) Sun 11 Feb 1-7am
6 Romances (op.25) Mon 12 1-7am
6 Romances (op.27) Mon 12 1-7am
6 Romances (op.28) Tue 13 1-7am
6 Romances (op.38) Tue 13 1-7am
6 Romances (op.57) Fri 16 1-7am
6 Romances (op.6) Sun 11 Feb 1-7am
6 Romances (op.63) Fri 16 1-7am
6 Romances (op.73) Fri 16 1-7am
7 Romances (op.47) Wed 14 1-7am
A Greeting to Anton Rubinstein for his golden jubilee as an
artist Mon 12 7-10am
A Legend (op.54/5) Wed 14 7-10am
A Legend (tenor & orch) Fri 16 5-7.30pm
A Legend (unaccompanied chorus) Wed 14 7-10am
Adagio in C Fri 16 7-10am
Adagio in F Fri 16 7-10am
Adagio molto in E-flat major (string quartet) Sun 11 1-5pm
Agitato and allegro in e minor Thu 15 5-7.30pm
Album pour enfants - pièces faciles (à la Schumann) (op.39)
Wed 14 1-7am
Allegretto in E major (string quartet) Sat 10 Feb 1-5pm
Allegretto moderato in D major (string trio) Sat 10 Feb 1-5pm
Allegro [ma] non tanto in G Sat 10 Feb 5-7.30pm
Allegro in C minor (for piano and strings) Sun 11 9am-1pm
Allegro in f minor Tue 13 7-10am
Allegro vivace in B-flat major (string quartet) Sat 10 Feb
1-5pm
Allegro vivo in C minor Thu 15 7-10am
All-Night Vigil (op.52) Wed 14 1-5pm
Anastasie-valse) Sun 11 Feb 7-9am
Andante & Finale Tue 13 10am-1pm
Andante cantabile Sun 11 Feb 7-9am
Andante funebre Tue 13 7-10am
Andante ma non troppo [and Allegro moderato] in A Tue 13
7-10am
Andante ma non troppo in E minor (string quintet) Sun 11 1-5pm
Andante molto in G major (string quartet) Sat 10 Feb 1-5pm
Aveu passionné in E minor Mon 12 7-10am
Before Sleep (for chorus and orchestra) Mon 12 10.30pm-1am
Blessed are They Whom Thou Hast Chosen Wed 2230
Blessed is He Who Smiles Fri 2130
Cantata for the Jubilee of O. A. Petrov Sun 11 10.30pm-1am
Cantata in commemoration of the bicentenary of the birth of
Peter the Great (Polytechnic) Wed 14 10.30pm-1am
Capriccio in Gb (op.8) Thu 15 7-10am
Capriccio Italien (op.45) Sun 11 Feb 1-7am, Fri 16 7-10am
Cherevichki Sun 11 Feb 1-7am
Child's Song Wed 14 7.30-10.30pm
Concert Fantasia in G (op.56) Wed 14 1-7am
Dawn Wed 14 7-10am
Dmitry Samozvanets i Vasily Shuysky [Dmitry the Pretender and
Vasily Shuysky] - incidental music, 2 pieces Tue 13 1-5pm
Dumka - Russian rustic scene (op.59) Mon 12 10am-1pm
Elegy (aka A Grateful Greeting - modifed version used as Act 4
entr'acte, Hamlet; Mon 12 1-5pm
Eugene Onegin (op.24) [150] Sun 11 1-5pm
Evening [3] Sun 11 5-7.30pm
Fatum [Fate] (op.77) Wed 14 7-10am
Festival Coronation March (for Alexander III) Fri 16 7-10am
Festival Overture on the Danish National Anthem Tue 13 7-10am
Francesca da Rimini (op.32) Wed 14 1-7am, Thu 15 7-10am
Gaudeamus igitur wed 10.30pm - 1am
Gott Erhalte Franz den Kaiser (orch of the Austrian national
anthem) Fri 16 7-10am
Grand Sonata in G (op.37) Sun 11 Feb 1-7am
Hamlet - fantasy overture (op.67) Mon 12 7-10am
Hamlet - incidental music (op.67a) Tue 13 1-7am
Humoresque (arr of 10/2 vn & pf) Mon 12 7-10am
Hymn in Honour of SS Cyril & Methodius Thu 15 7-10am
Impromptu in Ab Mon 12 7-10am
Impromptu in A-flat major Fri 16 10am-1pm
Impromptu in E-flat minor (op. 1/2) Sun 11 5-7.30pm
Impromptu-Caprice in G major Thu 15 7-10am
Iolanta (op.69) Mon 12 1-5pm
It is Truly Fitting Tue 13 10.30-1am
Jurists' March Mon 12 7-10am
Jurists' Song In honour of the 50th year of the Imperial
School of Jurisprudence Mon 12 7-10am
Kradosti [To Joy] – cantata Sat 10 Feb 9.45-1am
Let my prayer be set forth Sat 10 Feb 9am-1pm
Little Allegro, with introduction ['Largo'], in D Fri 16
7-10am
Liturgy of St John Chrysostom (op.41) Thu 15 10.30pm-1am
Mandragora: Chorus of Flowers & Insects Tue 13 7-10am
Manfred (op.58) Sat 10 Feb 7.30-9pm, Fri 16 1-7am
March: The Volunteer Fleet Wed 14 10am-1pm
Mazeppa Tue 13 1-5pm
Mezza Notte Mon 12 10.30pm-1am
Military March in Bb Sun 11 Feb 7-9am
Military March in B-flat major (wind band vers) Mon 12 7-10am
Moment Lyrique in A-flat major Fri 16 7-10am
Moscow - coronation cantata Tue 13 10.30-1am
Mozartiana (op.61) Sat 10 Feb 9am-1pm
Music for Count Almaviva's couplets in Beaumarchais' comedy
Sat 10 Feb 1-5pm
My Genius, my Angel, my Friend Sun 11 Feb 7-9am
Nature and Love Wed 14 5-7.30pm
Night (op.73/2) Sat 10 Feb 9am-1pm
Night [reworking of part of Mozart's Fantasia in c minor
K.475] Sat 10 Feb 9am-1pm
Nocturne (arr for cello & orchestra of op.19/4) Sun 11
10.30pm-1am
Nocturne (op.10/1) Sun 11 5-7.30pm
Now the Heavenly Powers Fri 1000
Nutcracker Suite (op.71a) Sat 10 Feb 9am-1pm
Oprichnik Tue 13 1-7am
Our Father Tue 13 10.30-1am
Overture in C minor Mon 12 5-7.30pm
Overture in F (1866) Wed 14 7-10am
Overture in F (small orchestra, 1865) Mon 12 7-10am
Perpetuum Mobile (arr for pf LH of part of the Piano Sonata
No. 1 by Carl Maria von Weber) Thu 15 1-5pm
Pezzo capriccioso (op.62) Thu 15 7-10am
Piano Concerto No.1 in Bb minor (op.23) Sun 11 9am-1pm, Mon 12
1-7am
Piano Concerto No.2 in G (op.44) Mon 12 10am-1pm
Piano Concerto No.3 in Eb (op.75) Tue 13 10am-1pm
Piano Sonata in C# minor (op.80) Sun 11 9am-1pm
Piano Trio in A minor (op.50) Thu 15 1-5pm
Potpourri on themes from The Voyevoda Sun 11 Feb 7-9am
Romance in f minor Wed 14 7-10am
Romeo and Juliet (1870 vers) Wed 14 5-7.30pm
Romeo and Juliet (incidental music) Wed 14 7-10am
Romeo and Juliet (original vers 1869) Wed 14 7-10am
Romeo and Juliet (standard vers) Wed 14 5-7.30pm
Scherzo à la russe on Ukrainian folktune (op. 1) Sat 10 Feb
9am-1pm
Serenade for N. G. Rubinstein's Name-Day Mon 12 7-10am
Serenade in C Sat 10 Feb 9am-1pm
Sérénade mélancolique (op.26) Sun 11 5-7.30pm, Fri 16 7-10am
Slavonic March (op.31) Sat 10 Feb 5-7.30pm, Wed 14 7-10am
Souvenir de Florence (op.70) Fri 16 1-5pm
Souvenir de Florence(op.70) Thu 15 1-7am
Souvenir de Hapsal (op.2) Tue 13 7-10am
Souvenir d'un lieu cher (op.42) Wed 14 1-5pm
Spring (For unaccompanied women's voices) Sun 11 10.30pm-1am
String Quartet in Bb [single movt] Sat 10 Feb 1-5pm
String Quartet No.1 in D (op.11) Sun 11 1-5pm
String Quartet No.2 in F (op.22) Mon 12 1-5pm
String Quartet No.3 in Eb (op.30) Tue 13 1-5pm
Suite No.1 in D (op.43) Wed 14 1-7am
Suite No.2 in C (op.53) Sun 11 9am-1pm
Suite No.3 in G (op.55) Sat 10 Feb 5-7.30pm
Swan Lake (op.20) Thu 15 7.30-10.30pm
Swan Lake (Suite) (op.20) Wed 14 1-7am
Symphonic Studies (orchestration of Schumann's op.13/11&12)
Thu 15 5-7.30pm
Symphony No.1 in G minor ('Winter Daydreams') (op.13) Sun 11
9am-1pm, Sun 11 5-7.30pm
Symphony No.1 in G minor ('Winter Daydreams') (op.13)
(original version) Mon 12 7.30-10.30pm
Symphony No.2 in C minor ('Little Russian') (op.17) Mon 12
10am-1pm, Mon 12 5-7.30pm, Fri 16 1-7am
Symphony No.2 in C minor('Little Russian') (op.17)(original
version) Tue 13 1-7am
Symphony No.3 in D ('Polish') (op.29) Tue 13 10am-1pm, Tue 13
5-7.30pm
Symphony No.4 in F minor (op.36) Mon 12 10.30pm-1am, Wed 14
10am-1pm, Wed 14 5-7.30pm
Symphony No.5 in E minor (op.64) Sun 11 10.30pm-1am, Thu 15
10am-1pm; 5-7.30pm
Symphony No.6 in b minor ('Pathétique') (op.74) Sat 10 Feb
9.45-1am, Fri 16 10am-1pm, 5-7.30pm
Symphony No.6 in b minor ('Pathétique') (op.74) (mvt III) Sat
10 Feb 9am-1pm
Symphony No.7 in E flat minor Tue 13 10.30-1am
The Angel Cried Out (unacc mixed voices) Thu 15 10.30pm-1am
The Barber of Seville Sat 10 Feb 1-5pm
The Enchantress Thu 15 1-7am
The Golden Cloud did Sleep Sun 11 Feb 7-9am
The Maid of Orleans Thu 15 1-5pm
The Nightingale Mon 12 1-5pm
The Nutcracker (op.71) Wed 14 7.30-10.30pm
The Queen of Spades (op.68) Fri 16 1-5pm
The Seasons (op.37b) [Jan – Feb] Sun 11 Feb 7-9am
The Seasons (op.37b) [Jul – Aug] Wed 14 7-10am
The Seasons (op.37b) [Mar - Apr] Mon 12 7-10am
The Seasons (op.37b) [May – Jun] Tue 13 7-10am
The Seasons op.37b) [Nov – Dec] Fri 16 7-10am
The Seasons op.37b) [Sep – Oct] Thu 15 7-10am
The Sleeping Beauty (op.66) Tue 13 7.30-10.30pm
The Sleeping Beauty (Suite) (op.66) Mon 12 1-7am
The Snow Maiden (incidental music) (op.12) Sun 11 7.30-10.30pm
The Storm (op.76) Sun 11 Feb 7-9am
The Tempest (op.18) Tue 13 7-10am
Theme & Variations in a minor Mon 12 7-10am
Three Choruses (Tis Not the Cuckoo in the Damp Pinewood; Why
Did the Merry Voice Grow Silent?; Without Time, Without
Season) Wed 14 10.30pm-1am
To Forget So Soon Fri 16 7-10am
Two Songs (I Should Like in a Single Word; We Have Not Far To
Walk) Fri 16 5-7.30pm
Two Songs (Take my heart away; Blue eyes of Spring) Tue 13
7-10am
Undine (surviving fragments) Thu 15 7.30-10.30pm
Ungarische Zigeunerweisen (orchestration of a concert-piece by
Sophie Menter or Franz Liszt) Wed 14 1-7am
Vakula the Smith (op.14) Sat 10 Feb 1-5pm
Valse caprice in D (op.4) Thu 15 5-7.30pm
Valse scherzo in A (op.7) Thu 13 7-10am
Valse-scherzo (op.34) Tue 13 7-10am
Valse-Scherzo [No. 2] in A major Fri 16 10am-1pm
Variations on a Rococo Theme (op.33) (original vers, 8 vars.)
Tue 13 5-7.30pm, Fri 16 1-7am
Variations on a Rococo Theme (std vers) (op.33) Mon 12 7-10am
Violin Concerto in D (op.35) Wed 14 10am-1pm, Fri 16 1-7am
Voyevoda - Domovoy's monologue for the play Sun 11
7.30-10.30pm
Voyevoda (op.3) Mon 12 1-7am
Voyevoda (sym ballad after A. Mickiewicz) (op.78) Mon 12
7-10am
Waltz in F-sharp minor Thu 15 5-7.30pm
Was I not a Little Blade of Grass (soprano & orchestra) Fri 16
7.30-9.30pm
We Hymn Thee Tue 13 10.30-1am
Zemfira's Song (from Pushkin's The Gypsies) Thu 11 7-10am
I see that I am way behind, all the info on Vakula is already up and lots of other Tchaikovsky desirables as well that I missed.
Sorry about that, I promise to catch up.
Hope the new Vakula copy is okay.
Coupla things. The 7th Symphony is in E Major. The 3rd String quartet is in E-flat minor. That's all that I know of.
we've probably gone over this ? but I thought the 7th symphony was in the same key as the 3rd piano concerto it was related to by a complicated story, E-flat major. Bogatyrev raised it by a semitone?
This is reliable, I think:
http://tchaikovsky-research.org/en/Works/Unfinished/TH238/index.html (http://tchaikovsky-research.org/en/Works/Unfinished/TH238/index.html)
Not that reliable, apparently. I remember seeing the LP of the first recording of Tchaikovsky's 7th Symphony, which stated that it was unequivocally in E Major, not E-flat. The liner notes stated that when Tchaikovsky converted it to a piano concerto he considered E Major to be more "unpianistic" than E-flat, so he transposed it down a half step. And that theme quoted as being from the first movement from the symphony appears nowhere in the piano concerto, which I know quite well (at least the one movement which was completed and published).
Well it's definitely called "Symphony in Eb" on the Chandos recording, so...
For what it's worth, I copied and pasted the list above directly from the BBC listings at the time and didn't check it; well, you wouldn't would you?
I must say that I'm impressed by the knowledge of all you here.
See here at the Tchaikovsky research website for Symphony No 7:
http://www.tchaikovsky-research.net/en/Works/Unfinished/TH238/index.html (http://www.tchaikovsky-research.net/en/Works/Unfinished/TH238/index.html)
Dimitri Kitaenko's complete Tchaikovsky Symphonies are now all available on a bargain box of the Oehms label. Wonderful and inspired preformances! In there you can also find the Seventh, in an exciting and higly lyrical interpretation, surpassing for sure the three previous versions I know (Ormandy, Järvi and Skripka). Kitaenko, incidentally has also great interpretation of Shostakovich, Scriabin and Prokofiev Symphonies on CD. His next project with the Gürzenich will be Rachmaninov.
Kitaenko is a very fine conductor, I agree.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention - not that I need anymore Tchaikovsky, but if it's SACD, I'm in. Has anyone heard the performances? Does he play them the way Tchaikovsky wrote them or disfigure them with cuts, orchestration changes, etc? Manfred has been horribly disfigured by more than one Russian conductor.
Adriano?
I have this set and really enjoy it - though not (yet) listening to it with my scores, except the 7th, which I played already 2 times consecutively. I never open scores at first hearings - I just enjoy the music, and this totally relaxed and not doing anything else besides as too many people always do.
From a first listening, Manfred is uncut and unaltered. Timings: 18:01, 10.07, 12:27, 20:47. Kitajenko, as far as I experienced, truly respects scores (see also his complete Scriabin set).
But this (bargain) set it's not SACD, just excellent digital engineering. recorded 2009-2013. Single record inside jackets give only TT, but the libretto lists the movements. No liner notes, just a 1 1/2 page biography of Kitajenko. Once I will be back from Bratislava (doing my 48th CD there), I will compare with the scores. Again, the E-flat (7th) Symphony, is the best interpetation; but this is just my personal opinion. The poor booklet does not mention the Symphony's "reconstructor"either.
The fillers are: Snow Maiden (excerpts), Rococo Variations and Andate Cantabile (string orchestra version), Sleeping Beauty (4-part Suite), Capiccio Italiano, Introduction to "Pique Dame" (erroneously entitled "Overture"), Piano Concerto No.3 (Allegro brillante only), with Lilya Ziberstein, Piano) - a more than intelligent coupling on the disc of the 7th Symphony - as already Chandos did.
(An out-of-thread note: A 1995 live recording of Brun's Second Symphony with Kitajenko exists on the Symphonically Swiss label - a hard-to-find or deleted item, published by the Swiss Radio. At that time he was conducting the Berne Symphony Orchestra - which had been Brun's ensemble from 1909 till 1941).
Not sure if it's been mentioned yet, but Tchaikovsky's incidental music 'The Snow Maiden' (Op 12) is delightful and available in at least two decent recordings. There is also his little-known cantata 'Moscow', which is better than its title might suggest.
Yes, the "Moscow" cantata is a very beautiful piece with excellent choral writing, including ariosi for Mezzo and for Baritone. I have 2 CD recordings: Citadel CDT 88138 and Regis 1182, both Melodyia take-overs. The first one also features "Ode to Joy" and 2 incidental pieces from "Dmitri the Imposter", the 2nd two other Festival Cantatas: "In Memory of Peter the Great" and "Nature and Love". Just discovered that there is also a CD reissue of the Golovanov LP version on the Praga label (will order it) - and a new digital one by Valery Gergiev, which I will not order :-) One more recommendation: Andrew Litton (Delos), featuring a Litton "version" of the "Sleeping Beauty" Suite, "The Voyevoda" and an surround interpretation of "1812".
Of course, some passages of the texts sung on the older recordings have been "revised" in order not to endanger the Soviet Regime. Suppose Gergiev would have leaped of joy, in case Putin suggested another actualized version... In this case, the mezzo ariosi would have to be transposed for Anna Netrebko...
I too have the 60CD set of Tchaikovsky on Brilliant. While there is nothing that comes to mind as outstanding it does fill in some holes for the completeist.
tom
I'd like to point out the third string quartet which I think can fairly be called unsung. It is rarely played; amateur quartets don't tackle it because of its key (e flat minor; it isn't really all that hard--easier than F sharp Major) and its other difficulties.
To me the work is magnificent, at least equal to the famous first quartet. It is longer and very serious, at least for the first two movements. The Adagio is the centerpiece and it takes my breath away every time I hear it. It has melodic sections interrupted by a sort of pilgrim's march and also features slowly ascending scales played pizzicato crescendo, then decrescendo when the melody descends again. This section says "fate" to me much more intensely than the motive in the sixth symphony. I know there are recordings around, one with the Borodin quartet, which I recommend.
BTW: The instruments sound phantastic in e-flat minor (something you wouldn't predict).
Those Borodin Quartet recordings - including Souvenir de Florence with Rostropovich - are landmarks (1960s, they were licensed for EMI and CBS LPs, and reissued on CD by Chandos).
If I am not wrong, the same ensemble (with 'cellist Natalya Gutman) re-recorded the same program for Warner in the 80s.
... and just listened a half an hour ago once more to Golovanov's recording of Moscow Cantata: a really thrilling interpretation! On the same (Gala) CD there are other thrillers: Voyevoda, 1812 Overture and The Tempest. The Cherkasov (1988) and Rozhdestvensky (1967) stereos are more moderate, but also very beautiful.