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Dohnanyi is a little bit less "unsung" that some of the other composers discussed on this forum. I am very impressed by this symphony and was wondering if anyone else here has any opinions on the work or the composer or better yet any recommendations of other works by Dohnanyi which I should listen to next. The only other work I know is the Serenade for String Trio.

I am a big fan of Khachaturian. I feel like he has more great pieces than those which get recorded and performed fairly often. The ballet Spartacus has much more to it than just the famous Adagio (though some sections do ramble a bit) and the Gayane suites also have quite delightful, colorful, tuneful, and often quite poignant music. His second symphony is also quite excellent.

Borodin's Prince Igor is chiefly remembered for the Polovstian Dances, but I feel like the overture is just as good, if not better (although a lot of it was composed by Glazunov).

Kodaly's Hary Janos as a whole contains some excellent music not included in the suite, but this is not performed much outside of Hungary, likely due to the fact that it is more of a play with extensive incidental and some sung music.

Balakirev may or may not count as "unsung" but I'm a big fan of Tamara and the Piano Sonata. Balakirev's piano music sounds like what I imagine Rimsky-Korsakov would have sounded like writing for solo piano.

And speaking of Rimsky-Korsakov, the Piano Concerto and especially the Tone Poem Sadko are, in my opinion, just as appealing as some of his more famous works but are very rarely performed. I also am quite fond of the Antar Symphony, but not as much.

I also am a big fan of his operas, but mostly Sadko. It contains some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard. I cannot pass much judgment on his other operas because I have not heard them or have not had access to good recordings. I do have access to a library that has a good Mlada DVD, but I cannot check it out, so I haven't seen it yet.

I have lurked on this forum for a while, but I feel like I need to post in this thread. I am a musicology student whose primary research interest is, in fact, Elfrida Andree. I am currently editing her D minor string quartet, one of her later chamber works, for publication.

I greatly admire Andree's work, though I would agree that she isn't a "great" composer. Andree was not an innovative composer and most of her best music is fairly light. I can understand why some listeners might not be too enthusiastic about this. I personally enjoy Elfrida's treatment of harmony and melody as well as the color of her orchestration. She also demonstrates a good understanding of the instruments for which she writes chamber music. Chamber music is arguably her strong suit, but I don't think she can be fully evaluated as a composer until somebody has performed at least some vocal excerpts from her unperformed opera Fritiof.

As for the Sterling CD, I feel like the performance is not a particularly good one, although competent. The second symphony is not fantastic. Although pleasing enough, it is not that dramatic and explores no great musical depths, but I find it an enjoyable listen every now and then, despite the disappointingly slow scherzo. I find the Fritiof Suite on the CD much more enjoyable. The prelude is one of my favorite operatic preludes. To me, it is very evocative music and I would really like a better idea of what the rest of the opera sounds like (possible PHD thesis?)

I do not know the organ works too well, but aside from a CD of those works and the sterling CD her music is very difficult to find. Stay away from the recording of some of her chamber music on Telia/Caprice. It is expensive and the mediocre performers take liberal cuts from the original scores when these cuts are not even indicated by the composer! The song Svanen receives a decent rendition on this CD while the Piano Sonata is not very impressive here.

If any of you are absolutely desperate for better, but still not great, performances of her works. The Swedish label Altfiol i Vast has recorded her Andante Quasi Recitativo for string orchestra (one of Elfrida's favorites from among her work; with harmonies influenced by Wagner) and the composer's version of the D minor quartet with added bass.

If anybody here has any questions about Elfrida Andree's life and works or anything else about the composer, feel free to send me a PM.

Also, if anyone wants to give away their Elfrida Andree CDs, I would be happy to take them!