Unsung masterpieces by sung composers

[Delicious Manager]

Four Last Songs by Richard Strauss

Hardly unsung (in any sense of the word). Rather, among his most performed pieces, I'd say.

[giles.enders]

Sorry, I misread the topic

[chill319]

Based on a couple of comments in this thread, I purchased the Beecham recording of Balakirev 1. A truly splendid symphony that wears well on repeated hearings -- albeit only slightly more unsung than Balakirev himself.

[dafrieze]

I would suggest Berlioz's Symphonie funebre et triomphale for band and, in its last movement, chorus and full orchestra.

[eschiss1]

I would suggest Berlioz's Symphonie funebre et triomphale for band and, in its last movement, chorus and full orchestra.

I should go listen to Lélio finally and decide if I think it falls in here. I do like La mort de Cléopatre rather though...

[alberto]

-Kodaly Summer evening
-Respighi Metamorphoseon modi XII
-Liszt Von der Wiege bis Zum Grabe
-Faurè Fantasie for Piano and Orchestra
-Roussel Aeneàs

[Ilja]

Rimsky Korsakov's piano concerto, sadko, and opera suites, especially Christmas Eve.
Balakirev's First Symphony

I'm not sure that Balakirev's magnificent 1st Symphony is more unsung than most of his music but, referring to the thread on music that's not done at the Proms, I see that it's only ever been performed once...and that was in 1901!
"Tamara" is another wonderful and woefully neglected piece (last done at the Proms in 1945.)

Let's not forget regional differences! There's not that much unsung by Rimski-Korsakov in Russia, but little of him is heard in other parts of the world. Similarly, Sibelius is sung in the UK and Finland (obviously), but he's hardly present in concert halls anywhere else. And there are many other examples.

[JimL]

Sibelius is (or was) a big presence here in L.A. as long as Salonen was in charge of the Phil.  Now that he is conductor laureate, I'm certain he will bring some to town every now and then until the day he retires.

[jerfilm]

We heard a lot of Sibelius when stanislaw skrowaczewski was here.  Including a large scale performance of Kullervo.  Not so much since altho now that Vanksa is here we are getting more and more Finnish music. 

Jerry

[alberto]

Visiting conductors and, more in the last decades, visiting orchestras cross, at least partially, the regional differences.
I take the case of Sibelius in Torino, Italy. Here the young Toscanini conducted almost "in real time" at least Finlandia, En Saga and the Swan of Tuonela. In 1911 Kajanus, obviously with Torino Orchestra, conducted Symphonies 1 and 2, Finlandia and Valse Triste.
Let's jump to more recent times and we see some important presences (Karajan in the 50's - Finlandia; Celibidache Fifth Symphony in the 60's) and some minor ones. The Violin Concerto is constantly performed.
Now to the next years . Sibelius is often conducted by English and Finnish Maestros, sometimes with their visiting orchestras.
So we hear:
En Saga (Fedoseyev, Storgards)
Tapiola (Storgards)
Pohjola' Daughter (Saraste)
Symphony n.2 (M.T.Thomas, S.Franc.O; Saraste, Finnish Radio Orch.).
Symphony n.3 (C.Davis,LSO; D.Harding , Mahler CO).
Symphony n.5 (Fabio Luisi, Mikko Franck).
Symphony n.6 (J.Tate)
Symphony n.7 (C.Davis, LSO; D.Harding , Mahler CO).
Vn. Concerto (Mullova, Tezlaff, Repin, Kremer)
Pelleas inc. Music (Pletnev, Russian Nat.Orch.)
The Tempest suite 1; Luonnotar (Oramo, City of Birmingham).
Valse Triste (C.Davis, LSO; D.Harding, Concertgebouw).
The Oceanides (C.Davis,LSO).
Four Legends (Salonen , Philharmonia).
Summing up this example, Sibelius is a fairly sung composer even in Italy.
I would say that Luonnotar and the complete Four Legends are rarely sung (but not unsung) masterpieces.

[ecureuil]

Would you consider Samuel Barber's violin concerto to be an unsung masterpiece?

I think everybody knows the Adagio for strings, but what about the violin concerto. It's a wonderfully melodic and sad piece of music.

Nick

[Alan Howe]

No, the Barber VC is widely recognised to be one of the 20th century's great examples of the genre. It's a sung masterpiece.

[Amphissa]

Works by Sibelius are in the top 20 in terms of number of concert performances in the U.S., so he certainly not unsung over here in the colonies. However, I think Kullervo is a very fine work that almost never gets performed in concert, at least here in the U.S. I know there are quite a few wonderful recordings, but I have never seen it on a concert program in the U.S. and I'm not sure if any of those recordings sell in the U.S.

Also, none of Rimsky-Korsakov's operas ever seem to get performed in the U.S. to my knowledge. Which is very sad, since much of his best music is in the operas.

[Revilod]

Yes. "Le Coq D'Or" in particular is a fabulous piece. So is "Sadko" though it does sprawl somewhat.

I wanted to mention R. Strauss's "Parergon on the Sinfonia Domestica" for left-handed pianist and orchestra...a piece which I have recently been getting to know. It's wonderful yet it's hardly ever performed. Just bear with the opening 6 minutes or so. (In fact, this passage contains the seeds of the music to come and will soon grow on you.)

[Amphissa]

I particularly like R-K's opera Mlada. Some of the R-K operas are available on DVD, but Kashchei the Immortal is not, so far as I know, and the Tale of Tsar Saltan on DVD is a bastardized version, cut in half and sung in German. Such great music in all of those operas. A shame they are not performed or available in better form.