Pianist Clément Canonne talks about his second recording devoted to the solo piano music of Florent Schmitt.

Clément Canonne’s second recording of music by Florent Schmitt encompasses all the solo piano scores created by the composer during the 1930s. One of the most interesting and significant recent recordings of Florent Schmitt’s music features three solo piano compositions dating from the composer’s late-career period (the 1940s and ‘50s). The disc was recorded by […]

The making of Yan Pascal Tortelier’s newest Florent Schmitt recording: An eyewitness report from Manchester (October 2025).

“It is one of the most important recordings of my entire career.” — Yan Pascal Tortelier, French conductor In late October 2025, I had the privilege of being invited to Manchester, UK to observe the recording of a program of mid-career orchestral works by Florent Schmitt (composed between 1929 and 1938), featuring the BBC Philharmonic […]

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

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 […]