Louis Niedermeyer (1802-1861)

[Wheesht]

Swiss composer Louis Niedermeyer has been mentioned just twice here, unless I missed something, the last time was ten years ago.
Turns out there's a Niedermeyer Association with biographical information (in French), some scores and recordings, e.g. of his Chant des Grecs.

[Alan Howe]

Apparently he was naturalised French.

[Wheesht]

French Wikipedia has this:

...est un compositeur et pédagogue suisse. La révolution de 1848 le contraint à demander la citoyenneté française, ce qui lui permet d'exercer ses droits d'électeur au début de la IIe République.

[Alan Howe]

Quite so. Thanks!

[semloh]

There's a smattering of short pieces by Louis Niedermeyer on YT, including his Overture in C major, and numerous performances of his Pietà, Signore. Wiki mentions five operas - inc. Mary Stuart, Stradella and Robert Bruce - all of which have quickly, and perhaps deservedly, disappeared into obscurity.

[eschiss1]

Is the "perhaps deservedly" related to the quality of the existing/known-to-us material or simply padding, like "also, 1+1=2", but with a nasty tinge?...

[semloh]

Well, his last opera is described as a failure, and as far as I can tell none has a history of live performance, and none have been recorded. He eventually abandoned composing operas and turned to teaching. So it seems likely that their neglect is "perhaps" deserved. Our chances of knowing either way are very slim! 

[Wheesht]

There was a concert in Switzerland on 8 December with the first Swiss performance of his

Messe solennelle en si min
for soloists, choir and orchestra

but I only saw the poster after that date and do not know if the concert was a success.