Experiencing Florent Schmitt’s sonic spectacular Symphonie concertante (1932) in performance: An eyewitness report from Tokyo.

February 15, 2023 · by Phillip Nones | in Classical Music, Composers, French Composers | tagged Andre Jolivet, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chausson, Florent Schmitt, Mario Ishiguro, Schmitt, Shin-ichi Numabe, Symphonie Concertante, The Rite of Spring, TMSO, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Tomoki Sakata, Yan-Pascal Tortelier | 4 Comments

On Valentine’s Day 2023, Japanese pianist Tomoki Sakata presented Florent Schmitt’s stunning Symphonie concertante, Op. 82 in concert with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Yan-Pascal Tortelier. The Symphonie concertante was the centerpiece of an all-French program presented at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall that also included music by Gabriel Fauré (the Prélude from […]

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 […]

Symphonie concertante: When Florent Schmitt Came to America (1932)

October 18, 2012 · by Phillip Nones | in Classical Music, Composers, French Composers, Piano Music, Uncategorized | tagged Alan Ding, Bernard Gavoty, Bonnet, Boston Symphony, Classical Music, Daniel-Lesur, David Robertson, Deuteurtre, Florent Schmitt, Francoise Petit, French Composers, Jean Martinon, Kitahara Toshiyuki, Koussevitzky, League of Composers, Monique Haas, Nones, Rene Dumesnil, Roger Boutry, Sermet, Shin-ichi Numabe, Symphonie Concertante, Tomoki Sakata, Yan-Pascal Tortelier | 3 Comments

All his life, Florent Schmitt was an inveterate traveler … but we think of his globetrotting primarily in connection with Europe, the Mediterranean Region, the Middle East, South Asia and Brazil, rather than North America. And in fact, the composer was to travel to the United States only one time his life – in 1932 […]