French pianist Tristan Raës talks about his musical journey with Florent Schmitt, and the pathfinding recording efforts of his father, Alain Raës.

Alain made important first recordings of French piano scores by Florent Schmitt, while Tristan is exploring the composer’s sumptuous early-career mélodies. Recently a multi-country recital tour was announced featuring tenor Cyrille Dubois and pianist Tristan Raës, in which mélodies by the composer Gabriel Fauré and several of his students would be performed. I was pleased […]

Members of the Mélomanie chamber ensemble talk about the music of Florent Schmitt and preparing his Sonatine en trio (1936) for performance.

In April 2017, the Delaware-based chamber group Mélomanie presented Florent Schmitt’s Sonatine en trio, Opus 85, an intimate and engaging piece for flute, clarinet and harpsichord the composer created in 1936. The Schmitt Sonatine was part of a fascinating program that featured seven works stretching from the 1600s (Marin Marais) through to contemporary pieces by Nicolas Bacri, Shulamit […]

A Rare Live Interview with French Composer Florent Schmitt at the Jeunesses Musicales de France (1957)

Cliquez ici pour écouter l’interview de Schmitt/Gavoty sur YouTube. For devotees of the Florent Schmitt Website + Blog, we are pleased to provide a link to a rare taped interview of the composer, done on February 20, 1957 when Schmitt was 86 years old. The interview was conducted at the Jeunesses Musicales de France by Bernard […]

L’Eventail de Jeanne: When Florent Schmitt teamed up with his compatriots to create an “omnibus” ballet (1927).

Throughout classical music history, “omnibus” compositions have been rather rare – and for the most part, they’ve been forgotten shortly after their celebrated premieres. Perhaps the earliest one of these interesting concoctions that has at least remained on the fringes of the repertoire is Hexameron — a morceau de concert put together in the late […]