The French critic’s perspectives on Florent Schmitt, originally published before World War I, proved prescient in the years to follow. When Florent Schmitt’s Symphonie concertante was premiered in Boston, Massachusetts in November 1932, the composer himself traveled to the United States to be the featured pianist in a work that had been dedicated by him […]
Tag Archives: Florent Schmitt
“This is a stunning album. If there is any justice, it will be the rope that finally hauls Schmitt out of the crevasse of obscurity.” — Andrew Palmer, Chimeo “This lovely release marks a major addition to the burgeoning Schmitt discography. The eclectic French composer’s reputation is in full renewal.” — Steven Kruger, Fanfare This […]
For afficionados of Florent Schmitt’s music, the upcoming 2026-27 season of orchestral concerts will include works by the composer that are both familiar and rare. In addition to one of Schmitt’s acknowledged “biggest hits” La Tragédie de Salomé, the featured repertoire includes several works that don’t show up on concert programs very often — Antoine […]
“Florent Schmitt’s music is very extravagant and complex, and he often wrote for immense forces — the Symphonie concertante being a prime example. Overall, the piece possesses a very powerful originality …” — Peter Donohoe, English pianist On October 30, 2025, English pianist Peter Donohoe joined the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and its conductor emeritus Yan […]
“A genius essentially dynamic, fed by strong rhythms and dark and violent colors …” — Émile Vuillermoz, French arts critic and author In 1927, Durand brought out the first biography of Florent Schmitt, one of the brightest stars in the publishing firm’s galaxy of composers. At the time, Schmitt was 57 years old and at […]
Live concert performances of Florent Schmitt’s monumental Piano Quintet, Op. 51 (1902-08) are an uncommon occurrence, and for that reason they’re always a cause for celebration. The most recent presentation of this stunning product of France’s “Golden Age” of music occurred at Toppan Hall in Tokyo, Japan on April 30, 2026. The performance featured pianist Tomoki […]
After decades of obscurity, suddenly both the piano and orchestral versions of Schmitt’s suite receive new recordings – as well as renewed attention from performers. In the 1930s, Florent Schmitt was arguably at the peak of his creative powers. It was a decade that saw a prodigious amount of music come from the composer’s pen […]
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 […]
When Florent Schmitt passed away in August 1958 at the age of nearly 88 years, the noted composer Henri Dutilleux penned this memorable epitaph about his older compatriot’s significance to French music: “Florent Schmitt was the last of that great family to which Ravel, Dukas, and Roussel belonged. He remains one of them who, by a […]
For his newest Florent Schmitt Chandos recording (scheduled for release in October 2026), when French conductor Yan Pascal Tortelier was considering contemporaneous compositions to pair with Schmitt’s strikingly modern Symphonie concertante (1931-32), one of his choices might seem curious: Çançunik, Op. 79, dating from 1927-29. Compared to the Symphonie concertante – and indeed to several […]
“I’d never before seen a score as mind-blowing as the Symphonie concertante …” — Yan Pascal Tortelier, Conductor Emeritus, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra In late October 2025, veteran director Yan Pascal Tortelier, joined by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra of which he is the conductor emeritus, as well as pianist Peter Donohoe, recorded a program for Chandos […]
In the summer of 1932, the American music critic Leonard Liebling, longtime editor-in-chief of the weekly national publication Musical Courier, sat down with Florent Schmitt in Paris, four months prior to Schmitt’s first (and only) trip to the United States, for a meet-and-greet conversation. Mr. Liebling’s impressions of the French composer were published in the […]
In a September 2025 interview, the 96-year-old composer shares her recollections of Florent Schmitt and his distinctive personality. In this year of 2025, it is difficult to imagine that there are any musicians alive who’d have had personal interactions with French composer Florent Schmitt. After all, Schmitt passed away in 1958, and nearly seven decades […]
Fanfare Magazine music critic Steven Kruger shares his reaction to the first U.S. staging of the Psaume since 2019. For the Houston Symphony’s 2025-26 season-opening weekend of concerts, music director Juraj Valčuha elected to include Florent Schmitt’s monumental Psaume XLVII, Op. 38, in which the orchestra was joined by the Houston Symphony Chorus, the Houston […]
On August 17, 2025 two of Florent Schmitt’s Trois rapsodies, Op. 53 – Polonaise and Viennoise – were presented in concert at Garth Newel Music Center in Hot Springs, Virginia by duo-pianists Genevieve Fei-wen Lee and Brian Hsu. The performance was part of Garth Newel’s “Piano Weekend” set of two concerts featuring four pianists (Jeannette […]