Pianist Biljana Urban talks about her new recording featuring world premiere renditions of works by Florent Schmitt.

September 13, 2021 · by Phillip Nones | in Classical Music, French Composers, Piano Music | tagged Aldo Ciccolini, Angeline Pondepeyre, Annie d'Arco, Ballade de la neige, Biljana Urban, Cortot, Crepuscules, Daniel Schorno, Exilarte Centre, Gerald Hugon, Grand Piano, Ivo Kaltchev, Jan Urban, Jan Vorisek, Jean Gabin, Laurent Wagschal, Leon-Paul Fargue, Michael Haas, Nadia Boulanger, NAXOS, Pascal le Corre, Prelude Triste, Pupazzi, Ralph Vaughan-Williams, Ritournelle, Scriabin, TivoliVredenburg, Tom Peeters, Toon de Zoeten, Trivoli Vredenburg, Vladimir Jankelevitch, Vorisek | 1 Comment

Five premiere recordings are part of the new collection devoted to the solo piano music of the composer, scheduled for release in October 2021 on NAXOS’s Grand Piano label. Over his long career, French composer Florent Schmitt created many piano compositions — a body of work spanning more than a half-century from the early 1890s […]

Chaîne brisée (1936-37): Florent Schmitt’s posthumous tribute to his friend and fellow-composer Paul Dukas.

June 2, 2021 · by Phillip Nones | in Classical Music, French Composers, Piano Music | tagged Alain Raes, Annie d'Arco, Anthony Girard, Arthur Hoeree, Barcarolle des sept vierges, Branle de sortie, Chaine brisee, Charles Munch, Clemens Gadenstaetter, Clement Canonne, Elsa Barraine, Florent Schmitt, Gabriel Pierne, Guy Ropartz, Henriette Puig-Roget, Henry Prunieres, IRCAM, Jawher Matmati, Jean Morel, Joaquin Rodrigo, Julian Klein, La Revue Musicale, Manuel de Falla, Messiaen, Micheline Moris-Thirion, Paul Dukas, Pauline Gordon, Pieter-Jelle de Boer, Ray Luck, Revue Musicale, Richard Whitehouse, Societe nationale de musique, Stele pour le Tombeau de Paul Dukas, Tony Aubin | 6 Comments

Living and working as he did throughout the entirety of France’s “Golden Age” of classical music, Florent Schmitt was well-acquainted with all of the significant composers of the day in Paris. Among the most famous of them — Achille-Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Albert Roussel and Paul Dukas — the latter three were particularly close friends […]

Florent Schmitt’s Mirages: Poignant and Potent Musical Pictures Inspired by Paul Fort and Lord Byron (1920-23)

January 14, 2013 · by Phillip Nones | in Classical Music, Composers, French Composers, Piano Music | tagged Alfred Cortot, Alfred Hertz, Andrey Kasparov, Annie d'Arco, Bennett Lerner, Classical Music, Claude Debussy, Defauw, Ferroud, Florent Schmitt, Francois-Julien Brun, French Composers, French Impressionism, Impressionism in Music, Jacques Mercier, John Ogdon, Jorge Mester, Koussevitzky, Laurent Wagschal, Lord Byron, Marie-Catherine Girod, Michel Plasson, Mirages, Nones, Pascal le Corre, Paul Fort, Pauline Gordon, Pierre Dervaux, Tomer Lev, Vincent Larderet, Winston Choi | 5 Comments

One of the highly interesting compositions by Florent Schmitt is Mirages, Op. 70. This work exists in two versions: its original piano form composed in 1920/21, and a later orchestration prepared by the composer in 1923 and premiered in 1924 by Schmitt’s friend, the conductor Serge Koussevitzky. I find Mirages to be one of Schmitt’s most compelling […]