Director Bill Barclay and conductor JoAnn Falletta talk about mounting a dramatic adaptation of Antony & Cleopatra that pairs Shakespeare’s words with Florent Schmitt’s jaw-dropping music from the 1920 Paris production of the play.

May 24, 2019 · by Phillip Nones | in Classical Music, Composers, French Composers | tagged Andre Gide, Barbican, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Bibliotheque Nationale de France, Bill Barclay, Buffalo Philharmonic, Camille Chevillard, Concert Theatre Works, Florent Schmitt, Henry Purcell, Ida Rubinstein, JoAnn Falletta, Midsummer Night's Dream, Orchestre Lamoureux, Peer Gynt, Sakari Oramo, Schmitt, Shakespeare 400, Shakespeare's Globe, The Fairy Queen, Virginia Arts Festival, Virginia Symphony Orchestra | Leave a comment

By now, it seems that Florent Schmitt’s two Antoine et Cléopâtre Suites, Op. 69 have at last transitioned from being true rarities to become orchestral repertoire that is actually known. There are now four commercial recordings of the suites (three of them made within the past decade), and in the past several years the music […]

Andantino (Vocalise): Florent Schmitt’s most versatile composition (1906).

May 3, 2019 · by Phillip Nones | in Chamber Music, Classical Music, Composers, French Composers, Instrumental Music, Vocal Music | tagged Amedee-Landely Hettich, Andantino, Claude Faucomprez, Cyril Preedy, Duo River, Edward Rushton, Emile Vuillermoz, Fabian Menzel, Fernand Oubradous, Florent Schmitt, Gervase de Peyer, Harold Gomberg, Harry White, Hershy Kay, Hettich, Jerry Rife, Joshua Anderson, Luigi Spina, Michel Lethiec, Murray Khouri, Peter Koetsveld, Ralph Manno, Randolf Stock, Ricardo Morales, Stefan Zillmann, Vocalise, Wilfried Berk | Leave a comment

The French composer Florent Schmitt was known for creating multiple versions of many of his compositions. Throughout his lengthy career, time and again the composer would produce additional arrangements of his works featuring different sets of instruments. To illustrate, many of Schmitt’s orchestral works were also published in piano reduction scores (solo, duet and/or piano […]

Contrasting voices: Florent Schmitt’s a cappella masterpiece A contre-voix (1944).

May 1, 2019 · by Phillip Nones | in Choral Music, Classical Music, Composers, French Composers, Vocal Music | tagged A contre-voix, Arsys Bourgogne, Capella Silentium, Choeur de chambre Calligrammes, Estelle Bereau, Florent Schmitt, Gilbert Patenaude, Gottfried Rabl, Groupe Vocal de France, Istvan Parkai, Jean Gallois, Jean-Francois Senart, John Alldis, Liszt Chamber Chorus, Marcel Couraud, Mihaly Zeke, Naissance de Venus, Paul Arosa, Philippe Collard, Pierre de Ronsard, Rene Dumesnil, Sean Deibler, Sean Matthew Deibler, Vocal Group of Philadelphia | 2 Comments

Within the vast catalogue of music created by the French composer Florent Schmitt are a great number of vocal compositions. Indeed, throughout his 70+ year composing career, Schmitt would return again and again to the human voice — writing works for solo voice as well as for chorus. The choral pieces are particularly interesting in […]