The international Bachtrack website is in the process of uploading its global database of classical music programs for the coming season.
Although it doesn’t provide a comprehensive listing of every professional group’s events, the site covers nearly all of the major orchestras, opera and ballet companies around the world, making it the “go-to” resource for information about what’s happening on the classical music calendar. (Having one of the most robust and easy-to-use search mechanisms of any website of its kind is an added plus.)
The 2019/20 season is just now coming into focus – and we see that ten important compositions of French composer Florent Schmitt will be presented by orchestras and chamber ensembles in Antwerp, Boston, Buffalo, Hiroshima, Maastricht, Montréal, Mulhouse, Paris, Perth, Québec City, Shanghai and Zeeland, conducted by Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Lionel Bringuier, JoAnn Falletta, Fabien Gabel, Ira Levin, Jacques Lacombe, Jaime Martin, Elias Miller, Julien Masmondet, Dirk Meyer, Ivan Meylemans, Gottfried Rabl and David Stern.
The 150th birthday anniversary of Florent Schmitt, who lived from 1870 to 1958, happens in 2020. (Photo: Lipnitzki/Roger-Viollet, 1937)
The upcoming concert season is particularly significant in that the year 2020 is the 150th birthday anniversary year for Florent Schmitt, thus providing an opportunity for additional focus on this composer and his artistic legacy. Already we’re seeing the inclusion of orchestral pieces that aren’t the usual concert fare. Among them is Schmitt’s rarely performed original 1907 version of his famous ballet La Tragédie de Salomé — scored for a chamber orchestra but double the length of the revised version from three years later.
Listed below are details on the upcoming season’s concerts, along with links to learn more information about the performances and to reserve tickets.
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June 27 (Brouwershaven), 28 (Aardenburg) & 29 (Veere), 2019
Schmitt: La Tragédie de Salomé, Op. 50 (1907/10)
Mahler: Symphony No. 4: Final Movement
Mendelssohn: Psalm XLII
Poulenc: Gloria
Het Zeeuws Orchestra; Ivan Meylemans, conductor
Anneke Luyten, soprano
Musica Cordis Chorale
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July 12, 2019
Schmitt: La Tragédie de Salomé, Op. 50 (1907/10)
Fauré: Pelléas et Mélisande Suite, Op. 80
Ravel: Tzigane
Saint-Saëns: Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso
Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra; Kazuyoshi Akiyama, conductor
Arabella Steinbacher, violinist
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July 20, 2019
Schmitt: Lied et scherzo, Op. 54 (1910)
Bizet: Symphony in C Major
Mozart: Don Giovanni, K. 527: Overture
Richard Strauss: Suite in B-Flat Major for Winds, Op. 4
Apollo Ensemble of Boston; Elias Miller, conductor
Jimmy Zhou, horn
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October 3-5, 2019
Schmitt: Rêves, Op. 65 (1915)
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14
Ledger: Viola Concerto
West Australian Symphony Orchestra; Fabien Gabel, conductor
Brett Dean, viola
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October 15, 2019
Schmitt: Andante et scherzo, Op. 35 (1903-06)
Caplet: Conte fantastique
Cras: String Trio
Hersant: La Chute de la maison Usher
Annie Lavoisier, harp
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November 8, 2019
Schmitt: La Tragédie de Salomé, Op. 50 (1907/10)
Holst: The Planets
Wagner: Das Rheingold: Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla
Augusta Symphony; Dirk Meyer, conductor
Women of the Augusta Choral Society
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January 1 & 5, 2020
Schmitt: Rapsodie viennoise, Op. 53, No. 3 (1904/11)
Heuberger: Der Opernball: Im chamber séparée
Lehár: Giuditta: Meine Lippen sie küssen so heiss
Lehár: Die lustige Witwe: Vilja-Lied
Johann Strauss II: An den schönen blauen Donau, Op. 314
Johann Strauss II: Éljen a Magyar, Op. 332
Johann Strauss II: Die Fledermaus: Mein Herr Marquis
Johann Strauss II: Im Krapfenwald’l, Opus 336
Johann Strauss II: Perpetuum Mobile, Op. 257
Suppé: Morning, Noon & Night in Vienna Overture
Orchestre Symphonique de Mulhouse; Jacques Lacombe, conductor
Odile Heimburger, coloratura soprano
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February 7, 2020
Schmitt: Psaume XLVII, Op. 38 (1904)
Dukas: L’Apprenti sorcier
Ravel: Pavane pour une infante défunte
Ravel: Rapsodie espagnole
Kowalsky: Calamitas (world premiere performance)
Transylvanian State Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus of Cluj-Napoca; Gottfried Rabl, conductor
Aida Pavăl-Olaru, soprano
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February 21-22 (Antwerp) and 22 (Ghent), 2020
Schmitt: Antoine et Cléopâtre, Suite No. 2, Op. 69b (1920)
Poulenc: Concerto in D Minor for Two Pianos & Orchestra
Ravel: Ma Mère l’oye: Suite
Ravel: La Valse
Antwerp Symphony Orchestra; Jaime Martin, conductor
Lucas & Arthur Jussen, duo-pianists
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March 6-7, 2020
Schmitt: Légende, Op. 66 (1918)
Schmitt: Oriane et le Prince d’Amour: Suite, Op. 83b (1933)
Debussy: Prélude a l’après-midi d’un faune
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor, Op. 18
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Nikki Chooi, violinist
Konrad Skolarski, piano
(Schmitt selections being recorded for release on the NAXOS label)
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March 14-15, 2020
Schmitt: La Tragédie de Salomé, Op. 50 (1907/10)
Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales
Salonen: Helix
Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 77
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal; Lionel Bringuier, conductor
Leonidas Kavakos, violinist
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March 21, 2020
Schmitt: La Tragédie de Salomé, Op. 50 (1907/10)
Tian: Concerto for Violin & Orchestra
Webern: Im Sommerwind
Shanghai Symphony Orchestra; David Stern, conductor
Olga Šroubková, violinist
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May 9 & 17, 2020
Schmitt: La Tragédie de Salomé, Op. 50 (1907/10)
Chausson: Poème de l’amour et de la mer, Op. 19
Miranda: Horizontes
Villa-Lobos: Choros No. 10
Theatro Municipal Orchestra of Rio de Janeiro; Ira Levin, conductor
Theatro Municipal Chorus
Rosana Lamosa & Michelle Menezes, sopranos
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May 18 (Rochefort) and May 28 (Paris), 2020
Schmitt: La Tragédie de Salomé, Opus 50 (Original version – 1907)
Touchard: Loïe
Ensemble Les Apaches; Julien Masmondet, conductor
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May 27, 2020
Schmitt: Musique sur l’eau, Op. 33 (1898/1913)
Aubert: Habanera
Debussy: Cinq poèmes de Baudelaire: Le jet d’eau
Duparc: Three Songs (Chanson triste; Phidylé; Testament)
Poulenc: La Dame de Monte-Carlo
Ravel: L’Enfant et les sortilèges
Orchestre Symphonique de Québec; Fabien Gabel, conductor
Helene Guilmette, Marie-Éve Munger, Chantal Parent, sopranos
Antoinette Dennefeld, Geneviève Levesque, Stéphanie Pothier, mezzo-sopranos
François Piolino, tenor
Jean-Francois Lapointe, baritone
Robert Huard, bass
Le Chœur de l’Orchestre Symphonique de Québec
La Maîtrise des petits-chanteurs de Québec
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More information on these upcoming concerts can be found on the Bachtrack site, or on the web pages of the various arts organizations (click or tap on the links above).
In the coming weeks, it is likely that additional concerts featuring Florent Schmitt’s music will be announced for the upcoming season. They will be added to the listing above as soon as the information becomes available.