Pianist Tomoki Sakata talks about performing Florent Schmitt’s brilliant orchestral showpiece Symphonie concertante (1932) with Yan-Pascal Tortelier in Tokyo.

This past Valentine’s Day (February 14, 2023), the young Japanese pianist Tomoki Sakata presented Florent Schmitt’s complex, über-brilliant Symphonie concertante, Op. 82 with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra under the direction of veteran French conductor Yan-Pascal Tortelier. The concert marked the first time this music had been performed anywhere in the world since the release […]

Dancing Demons and Underwater Airplanes: Florent Schmitt’s Phantasmagorical Ronde burlesque (1927)

August 11, 2015 · by Phillip Nones | in Classical Music, Composers, French Composers | tagged Alfred Hertz, Cybelia, Edwin Evans, Emile Vuillermoz, Fabien Gabel, Fermand Quiinet, Florent Schmitt, Gaston Poulet, Henri Tomasi, Henry Prunieres, Lionel Salter, Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec, Petros Petridis, Pierre Stoll, Ronde burlesque, Schmitt, Serge Koussevitzky, Symphonie Concertante | 2 Comments

Within the catalogue of Florent Schmitt’s compositions are a goodly number of brilliant orchestral showpieces that exploit the colors of the orchestra to the fullest degree. One of the most interesting and effective of these also happens to be one of the shortest — the Ronde burlesque, Opus 78. This piece was composed in 1927 during a time […]

Psalm XLVII: Florent Schmitt’s Astounding Choral Masterpiece (1904)

November 12, 2012 · by Phillip Nones | in Choral Music, Classical Music, Composers, French Composers | tagged Albert Stoessel, American Choral Directors Association, Andre Coeurey, Apollo Musical Club of Chicago, Arthur Mees, Chandler Cudlipp, Choral Music, Chorale Elisabeth Brasseur, Christopher Palmer, Classical Music, Eugene Ormandy, Florent Schmitt, French Composers, Inghelbrecht, Jacques Chailley, Jean Fournet, Jean Letarte, Jean Martinon, Jean-Luc Tingaud, Jean-Paul Fargue, Joseph Jongen, Kenneth Fuchs, Leon Botstein, Manuel Rosenthal, Martin Cooper, Maurice Ravel, Nadia Boulanger, Nones, Olin Downes, Prince Albert, Psalm 47, Psalm XLVII, Psaume 47, Psaume XLVII, Ravel, Rene Dumesnil, Richard Bloesch, Roger Wagner, SACEM, Serge Koussevitzky, Societe musicale independante, Villa-Lobos, Walter Simmons | 23 Comments

“… An extravagant outburst of highly perfumed Franco-exoticism at its most virile, heroic and exalted … I can’t think of another piece that achieves — or even attempts — quite the impact made by this work.” — Walter Simmons, author and music critic, Fanfare Magazine “Regarding the Psaume, what can we say that hasn’t already […]