What would your dream unsung opera you would like getting recorded? Mine would be from the Czech repertoire: Fibich's Hedy and Pad Arkona would be lovely. Next up I would like to finally hear Rapids of St John from Rozkošný and Šebor's Hussite Bride. Any others members would like finally been able to experience for the first time? (this is just for fun) :)
Rather than simply compile a list - which is likely to become long and boring - perhaps friends could also give reasons for their choices....
Thanks!
I would love to hear any of Litolff's operas, especially the ones in the lighter (dare I say, "Offenbachian") vein, since the overture to "La fiancée du roi de Garbe", which I have heard, is delightfully and frothily tuneful.
Although opera is a lesser interest of mine to be truthful, I do possess recordings of a number of unsungs (Moniuszko, Paderewski, for example), I would be more than delighted if Xaver Scharwenka's "Mataswintha" ever were to appear. There is, of course, the short overture or vorspiel, included as a welcome filler on the Naxos CD of the 4th piano concerto, but having had an admittedly rather cursory glance at the whole work from the vocal score, I am sure a complete recording would be well worthwhile. Also, whilst certainly less stylistically Wagnerian than the Scharwenka, his friend and contemporary Moszkowski's "Boabdil" might also be due for consideration - and perhaps there may be some impetus to examine this as a real possibility following on from the current ongoing recording project concentrating on his orchestral music. We can but hope...........
Interesting thread. In the first page, I already had my curiosity awaken about titles I had no idea....
For my part, I would love to hear a good recording of Roger-Ducasse's Cantegril. Well, yes, it's past the "validation date", but it's still worth checking upon.
If you don't know Roger-Ducasse's music, you can lend an ear on YT for his symphonic stuff. Cantegril has been performed twice by the French radio, but both times in a very disappointing manner, with many cuts, especially in the chorus parts, as these recording sessions were done in a "fast-and-sloppy" way, and all the demanding parts were simply cut out. The opera is based on a "regionalist "novel by Raymond Escholier, a southern France poet and novelist, who describes the life of a small pyrenean village, and its Don Giovanesque hero, Cantegril. The opera is a succession of delightful "vignet" scenes, depicting the atmosphere and traditions of this village. The more descriptive scenes (sunrise) resemble Canteloube's music, while the vocal ensembles have a more ravelian atmosphere (of l'Heure Espagnole). The opera doesn't seem to have been performed again since its creation at the Paris Opera-Comique because of its demanding choral parts, and its numerous small roles (looks like half of the chorus has a small part !)
On the side, not an opera, but almost, is his Orphée, which is ballet with some vocal parts, which often reminds me of Ravel's Daphnis. Only 3 orchestral excerpts have been published (like a suite), but not the whole thing.
Another opera(s) which I'd love someone to get his curiosity into, is the operas of Gabriel Pierné. Most of you, I assume, will be familiar with his orchestral music, or his ballet Cydalise. But only one "chamber opera" of his has been explored and recorded, while the others, of a much larger scale have been totally unexplored, even by the French radio, except for Fragonard, which is a delightful and demanding operetta (with no official and decent recording thus far). But the Pierné opera that looks like one of the most interesting ones, as far as the interest of BOTH music and drama are concerned, is La Fille de Tabarin. It offers a spirit similar to that of Cyrano de Bergerac, and if the music is as high-quality as Cydalise or Fragonard, we should find a masterpiece.
Finally, my 3rd wish (as wishes always go by three, in fairy tales !) would be to hear Bachelet's Un Jardin sur l'Oronte, a grand oriental fresque, about which Dukas wrote : « La musique du Jardin est marquée du grand signe de l'unité, qui est la marque la plus rare. Dans la rigueur admirable de cette continuité de style, sa diversité d'accent et sa souplesse d'expression, qui va du coloris le plus voluptueux au pathétique le plus émouvant, font de cette partition une des œuvres les plus magistrales, à coup sûr, qu'on nous ait données en France depuis bien longtemps. » ("Un Jardin's music is marked by its great unity, which is the rarest mark. In the admirable rigueur of this stylistic continuity, its diversity of accents et its supple expression, from the most voluptuous to the most moving pathetic, make of this score one of the most magistral work that have been given to us in a long time."
Fabrice Bollon, are your there ? ;)
Felix Draeseke: Gudrun (The overture is very promising), Bertran de Born (The Scene for violin and piano takes melodies from this never performed piece)
Charles Tournemire: Il poverello di Assisi (Tournemire's Sixth Symphony shows his skills as a vocal-symphonic composer, maybe it foreshadows his late operas?)
Heinrich Kaminski: Das Spiel vom König Aphelius (This must contain some of Kaminski's ripest music)
Wilhelm Petersen: Der Goldene Topf (Petersen's Symphony No. 5, a great work, contains music from this opera)
Spontini - Nurmahal.
Spontini - Alcidor
It's just downright odd that neither of these operas from his middle-late period have ever been been recorded, while some of his earlier more conventional works have...
I heartily agree about the Fibich; the ballet music from "Hedy" is terrific. Though I'm not sure if a recording was made, I've heard "Pad Arkona" in its entirety; there was a thread here on the work not long ago.
Years ago I saw a production of Sousa's "The Glassblowers" at Glimmerglass in upstate New York and have been searching, in vain, for a complete performance ever since. Its score is quite the equal of his best known stage piece "El Capitan." True, both works lean more towards operetta, but I recall some very operatic moments.
The splendid "Epithalamium" and engaging ballet music from Rubinstein's "Nero" have made me curious about the entire work; seeing his "Demon" at Bard College two years ago only increased my curiosity.
Also, practically anything by Auber beyond the ten or so complete works already recorded. The consistent sparkle of his overtures has to point to some rewarding music in the works themselves.
QuoteI heartily agree about the Fibich; the ballet music from "Hedy" is terrific. Though I'm not sure if a recording was made, I've heard "Pad Arkona" in its entirety; there was a thread here on the work not long ago.
Nope, Hedy has never been recorded in its entirety. If members don't know its been described as the ''the Czech Tristan und Isolde'' and it is the middle of his so called ''erotic trilogy'' flanked by The Tempest( there's a decent radio broadcast of the whole on opera on youtube) and Sarka.
Yes. I've listened to the Pad Arkona download but one wishes for a commercial release with full libretto in english. :)
Richard Strauss: "Guntram", original version. I have a vocal score of this and believe me: about 45 minutes of great music are missing in the well known second version.
Ernst Krenek: "Leben des Orest" (Life of Orestes) - his greatest operatic achievement, a romantic grand opera (with very little modernism for special effects). There exists a low-quality recording from Portland (a heavily cut performance) in English. One would like to hear the whole piece.
Walter Braunfels: Galatea. The only Braunfels opera whithout any recording so far. There was a concert performance + recording planned in Osnabrück in June 2020, which has been cancelled for known reasons. Hope this will be done next season.
Alexander Zemlinsky: "Kleider machen Leute", original version. There exists only a (very funny) recording of the heavily cut down second version.
Moritz Moszkowski: "Boabdil" - his only opera. No idea how this piece may be...
Hmm, not sure about the above description of Krenek's opera. This reference (in German) makes it clear that the style contains elements of Neo-Romanticism, Expressionism and Jazz, which is about what one might expect:
https://www.tamino-klassikforum.at/index.php?thread/14216-krenek-ernst-leben-des-orest/ (https://www.tamino-klassikforum.at/index.php?thread/14216-krenek-ernst-leben-des-orest/)
Well, in contrast to Manfred Rückert, I know the Portland recording. Yes, there are elements of expressionism and this European 1920s so-called "jazz", but much less and much more integrated in "Orest" than in the highly disparate "Jonny spielt auf" - in what definitely is a big romantic opera (which is also the reason, why imho "Orest" is Kreneks best opera by far).
No surprises for guessing that my top choice would be for Raff's five act music drama Samson. On the page it promises to be a magnificent work, requiring a heldentenor for the title role, an extensive ballet in the final act, just before the temple comes crashing down and, by the look of it, some supremely melodic music as counterweight to all the drama. There is at least now a modern edition of the vocal score and, pre-Covid, some opera houses expressed interest in staging it.
That must have been your cool stuff that you were working on I bet. I was deeply impressed with his Benedtto Marcello, I've listened to it countless times now.
Oh no, I've been working on other cool Raff stuff.... ;)
Out of Draeseke's operas...
WoO 2 König Sigurd - Opera in 3 Acts after Emanuel Geibel's Sigurd (1853-7)
WoO 12 Dietrich von Bern - Opera in 3 Acts (1877; revised by Otto zur Nedden, 1925) - renamed Herrat
WoO 13 Herrat - Opera in 3 Acts (1877-9, revised 1885)
WoO 14 Gudrun - Opera in 3 Acts (1879-84)
WoO 17 Der Waldschatzhauser (1882)
WoO 22 Bertran de Born - Opera in 3 Acts (1892-4)
WoO 24 Fischer und Kalif - Comic Opera in 1 Act (1894-5)
WoO 30 Merlin - Opera in 3 Acts, after K.L. Immermann (1903-5)
...I'd like to hear how Wagnerian König Sigurd is. Otherwise, the only clue we have as to how his operas might sound is the magnificent Overture to Gudrun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ndiwsbEdDY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ndiwsbEdDY)
Here's some further information:
Felix Draeseke was one of the most important composers of his time who stood in the shadows of Liszt, Wagner and Brahms. He is today known to musically knowledgeable people because of his sacred music, symphonic works, chamber music and piano compositions. Even during his lifetime he had little success in the realm of opera and after his demise no "rediscoveries" were made. Draeseke wrote seven works for the operatic stage: the grand operas König Sigurd (King Sigurd, 1853-57, unpublished and unperformed to this day), Herrat (1877-79, which appeared in private edition in 1892), Gudrun (1879/82-84) and Bertran de Born (1892-94, which never came to performance), the populist stage work with song Waldschatzhauser (The Inn in Spessart, 1876/82), the one act comic opera Fischer und Kalif (1894-95, unpublished) and the music drama Merlin (1900/03-05, vocal score published privately). (Draeseke, by the way, and against his usual custom, intentionally avoided giving his operas opus numbers.)
In 1878 Draeseke had experienced resounding successes with the premiere of his Second Symphony in F major, Op. 25 (on February 15th in Dresden under Ernst von Schuch [1847-1914]) and the repeat on June 22nd of his First Symphony in G major, Op. 12 at the music festival of the ADMV [Allgemeiner Deutscher Musik-Verein or General German Music Union] in Erfurt under Max Erdmannnsdörfer [1848-1905]. On November 22nd 1878 his Adventlied, Op. 30, after Friedrich Rückert (1788-1866) reached performance in Dresden under Friedrich Reichel (1833-89).
On the 22nd of February 1879 Draeseke finished his second opera Herrat. In the summer of 1879 Draeseke's hoped for performance of Herrat at the Dresden Hofoper was cancelled (appearing later for the first time in Dresden on March 10, 1892 under the direction of Ernst von Schuch). This was a severe disappointment and a creative pause set in. Thereafter Draeseke then wrote his short discourse Die Beseitigung des Tritonus (Avoiding the Tri-tone) in which, for the purpose of avoiding the augmented second, the minor mode is not dealt with as an octave with leading tone, but rather as a sequence with leading tone reference between the tonic and dominant). In October 1879 Draeseke began work on the text to his next opera, Gudrun, which he was quickly able to finish. Then he turned to his Requiem in B minor for Soloists, Chorus and Orchestra, Op. 22 which he had long wanted to finish, but completed instead his First String Quartet in C minor, Op. 27, which was ready in February of 1880. Finally on May 1, 1880 he finished his Requiem. In the second half of 1880 42 Lieder, or about half of his entire song production, were ready. From May to July 1881 Draeseke composed his Violin Concerto in E minor (without opus number; the Adagio from it first resounded in the Thomaskirche in Leipzig on April 11, 1886, played by Adolf Brodsky [1851-1929], but it remained unplayed in its entirety), and this has remained unpublished for the orchestral score and parts have been missing since the Second World War.
On the 26th of October 1881 the Requiem in B minor, Op. 22 was premiered in Dresden by the Dreyssig Sing-Akademie under Adolf Blassmann (1823-91) and has proven to be one of the most succesfully permanent and worthwhile works of Draeseke. At the beginning of the year the 22 year old Frida Neuhaus (1859-1942) became his student at the Rollfuss Academy. She was soon his favorite student and much later (on May 16, 1894) she became his wife.
Draeseke really did not want to begin setting the text of his Gudrun before Herrat had reached the stage. Aside from this, August Klughardt (1847-1902) had just recently come out with a Gudrun opera. But there was more. Erich Roeder summarizes it in his study Felix Draeseke. Der Lebens- und Leidensweg eines deutschen Meisters, Vol. II (Berlin, 1937):
"Ernst von Schuch, who lived in his neighborhood, awakened new hopes in him. So that something from his Gudrun might be given, Draeseke immediately produced his overture. This, like the overture to Sigurd in its day, came into being before the rest of the opera was finished (and this explains the absence in it of the truly affecting melody for 'Nichts soll mich von Herweg scheiden' ('Nothing shall part me from Herweg'). Draeseke completed it as if possessed and finished it a period of eight days and eight nights. Schuch was caught off guard by this, even more so since the work displays considerable formal dimensions and requires a truly large orchestra.
The 'Gudrun' Overture is Draesekes most handsome opera prelude, a New German parallel to that for 'Euryanthe'. It presents itself like a magnificent nordic ballad. One hears the roll of eternal sea and the roar from windy cliffs. One feels the suffering of the daughter of the Hegeling washing at the icy shore, experiences her temptation and rescue. [...]. The introduction presents a preview of themes. A motive built on the fifth, followed by a chromatically howling challenge, places before the soul of the listener a portrait of Gudrun and her surroundings, defined by a tender F major motive. As the melody for Hartmuths declaration of love comes up it is met by the minor mode theme in 12/4 time of the Hegelings' song of vengeance, 'Einst erdämmert Tag dem Lande' ('Day once dawned on the land'). The exceptionally lively development section makes use of the call of the mermaids 'Gudrune, du Getreue' ('Gudrun, thou faithful lady') as a theme. The second thematic group is developed from Hartmuth's song of fervent love and climaxes in the declamatory melody of 'O bleibe mir nicht länger fern' ('Do not remain distant from me any longer'). The development then strives towards a fugato on the song of vengeance. In the recapitulation this theme is presented in a manner reminiscent of the Tannhäuser emulation of Berlioz's Cellini Overture and its boldly brassy presentations. At the climax of this compelling finale there streams forth in joyful A major the major mode presentation of 'Lache Gudrun' ('Laugh, Gudrun'). The happiness at the reuniting of the betrothed is illustrated in broad confirmation."
After his summer leave Draeseke composed his Waldschatzhauser, finishing it and, according to Roeder, it is "a folk piece with song and dance, a dramatic fairy tale in singspiel form [in four acts]. Draeseke had fashioned it after Wilhelm Hauff's[1802-27] fairy tale of the Black Forest, Das kalte Herz (The Cold Heart), that is, the tale of the student in the inn." At the time Draeseke also busied himself with greatest intensity composing polyphonic canons and worked on Gudrun, which he was able to declare finished in November 1882, but completing the orchestral score only in the early spring of 1883 after a total of ten month's preoccupation.
In the meantime the Gudrun Overture had been premièred at a concert of the Dresden Hofkapelle on January 12, 1883, conducted by Franz Wüllner (1832-1902), who replaced the ailing Ernst von Schuch. "Its success was exceptional!" (Roeder)
The grand opera in three acts Gudrun is "dedicated by the composer to Freiherr Hans Bronsart von Schellendorf out of lasting friendship, devotion and thanks". Since Ernst von Schuch had suddenly lost interest in Gudrun, Draeseke had to seek elsewhere for a premiere. "Now there were two heroic operas laying before him. [...] By the urgent nature of the matter he thought of his friend Bronsart." (Roeder) Hans Bronsart von Schellendorf (1830-1913) had been director of the Court Theatre at Hannover since 1867 and was himself an accomplished composer. Bronsart insisted on several major changes in the work, which Draeseke would later admit to have found measured and just. Thus he was able to get the work accepted for performance and thus was the opera Gudrun premiered at the Royal Playhouse Hannover on November 5, 1884 under the direction of Kapellmeister Karl Herner (1836-1906).
In July of 1885 the orchestral score, orchestral parts and piano/vocal edition were published by the Leipzig firm Kistner Verlag. In the same year there also appeared as an independent orchestral score the Overture to the Opera 'Gudrun', which has served as the source for this present reprint in study score format. It is without a doubt one of Felix Draeseke's most immediately compelling works.
Christoph Schlüren, 2004. Translation: Alan H. Krueck, 2004.
https://repertoire-explorer.musikmph.de/en/product/draeseke-felix/ (https://repertoire-explorer.musikmph.de/en/product/draeseke-felix/)
Thank you, Alan. Very interesting. I would love to hear an opera by Draeseke - especially
Gudrun.
But I'm intrigued -
QuoteNow there were two heroic operas laying before him
- I wonder what they were laying! ;)
There's links to lots more information on Draeseke's operas here: https://www.draeseke.org/operas/index.htm (https://www.draeseke.org/operas/index.htm).
Is WoO 17 lost?
QuoteI wonder what they were laying! ;)
Eggs-actly!
QuoteIs WoO 17 lost?
It appears not. Michael Heinemann's contribution (in German) to the volume 'Felix Draeseke: Komponist seiner Zeit' is about
Der Waldschatzhauser:
https://ul.qucosa.de/api/qucosa%3A21028/attachment/ATT-0/ (https://ul.qucosa.de/api/qucosa%3A21028/attachment/ATT-0/)
Here is the score of Bertran de Born:
https://digital.slub-dresden.de/werkansicht/dlf/56802/
Only two:
1) Karl Goldmark's The Cricket on the Hearth. I play through the vocal score (badly) and there's some beautiful writing in it and some endearing tunes. Can't imagine what the scoring is like, but if Queen of Sheba is any hint, it'd be great. Actually, I wish some enterprising company would start a Goldmark project and record everything the man wrote.
2) Franz Schmidt's Fredegundis. I have the off-the-air bootleg recording, but a nice, modern, professional recording is really the only thing missing from Schmidt's library. But DVD versions of both operas would be quite welcome.
QuoteBut DVD versions of both operas would be quite welcome
With the proviso that they didn't perpetuate the ego-boosting stupidities of so many opera directors.
Absolutely! :)
OK here's my five pennyworth...
I would love a recording of BITTNER's Das Hoellisch Gold - his grandiose, lavishly orchestrated, highly Wagnerian fairy tale opera from 1916.
There is a 7 minute fragment of a 1931 broadcast conducted by Erich Kleiber no less that I have uploaded to Youtube which provides a mouthwatering glimpse of what we can expect.
If you want to read the back story (plus access that broadcast clip) I have provided it at the following website:-
https://www.momh.org.uk/exhibitions-detail.php?cat_id=5&prod_id=338
Enormously popular before 1933 in Vienna and throughout Germany, It could be a hit all over again!
Fascinating, great article. The vocal score is easily found online (IMSLP etc) for appraisal. Libretto digitized by Goethe Universität, too:
http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/15739 (http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/15739)
This catalogue entry indicates Schott had published performance materials back in the day:
https://tinyurl.com/ybpf2qf2 (https://tinyurl.com/ybpf2qf2)
A search on Österreische Nationalbibliothek leads to an (undigitized) partitur – published, it seems?
https://tinyurl.com/ybzl989k (https://tinyurl.com/ybzl989k)
And now to find the singers capable of singing this stuff. Woe, woe and thrice woe...
QuoteAnd now to find the singers capable of singing this stuff...
That'll happen only in your dreams...
Well, they used to exist, as we know.
Something of a tangent - but a relevant one: Ralph Moore, comparing recorded Ring cycles over at MusicWeb refused to include any from after the Solti/Karajan/Goodall era. Why? Because the singers aren't good enough. I agree. And if we can't find them for Wagner, there's no chance of casting them in Strauss, Schreker or Korngold, let alone Bittner.
A case in point is Rattle's newly released Die Walküre which, apart from Skelton's magnificent Siegmund (fortunately to be heard elsewhere), is an absolute shriek and wobble fest. AVOID!
So, we dream on...
Ralph Moore makes me uneasy. He's said some disparaging things about unsung music when he used to write for Amazon. I'm very wary of him even though he seems knowledgeable.
His writings on opera are pretty well spot-on, though. His focus, unlike so many commentators is always on the quality of singing first.
Think of this way: would we tolerate inadequate technique, poor intonation, unsteady bowing, etc. from a violinist in, say, Korngold's VC? So why do allow the same deficiences to pass in his operas?
In reply to Kevin, as far as I can see, only Acts 1 and 2 of Fibich's opera "The Tempest" in the 2007 Bielfeld performance are on Youtube but the whole opera is available from Operapassion. It's a good performance and so is the recording. So much more colour is revealed than is apparent from Vogel's 1950 version.
The recording of The Tempest on YouTube does cover all three acts, but split over six videos, misleadingly labelled and not in consecutive order(something like the first halves of each act in the first three videos and the second halves in the second trio!). I made a set of mp3s from them, using the vocal score (IMSLP) as a guide, and all three acts are there, albeit with some cuts.
Please post the mp3 's in the download section Mark if it's not too much trouble.
No problem, but I'll have to check the provenance of the YouTube recording to make sure that there are no copyright issues, and I can't do that right now.
And so back to 'your dream unsung opera release', with reasons, please.
Perhaps a separate thread could be started on the Fibich if members want to discuss it further? Thanks.
I don't know if it helps but I have a copy that was taken from Deutschlandradio Kultur in April 2007.
That's the broadcast which is on YouTube from which I made the mp3s now downloadable from our Downloads Board. Your sound may be better, of course.
I don't think there would be any copyright issues with the recording of "The Tempest" because it's listed on the Operapassion website and they're all in the public domain.
Back to dream operas: Any of Tournemire's: "La Légende de Tristan" en 3 actes et 8 tableaux
Les Dieux sont morts (Chryséis) drame lyrique en 2 actes
Trilogie Faust - Don Quichotte - Saint François d'Assise
...simply because anyone who could a work as overwhelming as the Sixth Symphony must be worth further exploration....and the opus numbers suggest that the operas are roughly contemporary with the symphony.
Also, having been impressed by "Julien, L'Hospitalier" any of Camille Erlanger's others...especially "Le Juif Polonais" which was his best known work but which seems to have disappeared entirely although it remained in the French repertory until the 1930s. ( Wikipedia says Mahler presented it in Vienna in 1906 but it was a "dismal failure"! )
Tournemire's: "La Légende de Tristan" en 3 actes et 8 tableaux was due to be performed in Ulm in April/May and I had tickets. Unfortunately the première didn't take place because of Corona and it's not appeared in next season's listing. It would have been its first performance.
I would certainly LOVE to see or just hear Tournemire's "Legend de Tristan".
I'm currently listening to Tournemire's 7th Symphony. A loud bit's just woken me up...