Pianist and musicologist Frank Cooper talks about discovering Florent Schmitt’s Trois rapsodies (1903-4) and preparing a pioneering recital performance of the piece with Martin Marks in 1967.

October 17, 2021 · by Phillip Nones | in Classical Music, French Composers, Piano Four-Hand Music, Piano Music | tagged Arthur Loesser, Atlanta Music Company, Billy Munn, Butler University, Casadesus, Edward Kilenyi, Ernst von Dohnanyi, Festival of Neglected Romantic Music, Florent Schmitt, Frank Cooper, Gunnar Johansen, Harold Schonberg, Helen Moritz, Ira Levin, Leopold Godowsky, Mainly Mozart Festival, Martin Marks, Schmitt, Trois Rapsodies | 4 Comments

Among the most impressive music channels on YouTube are two that are run by Helen Moritz, who has uploaded a wealth of rare piano performances from yesteryear. Ms. Moritz has painstakingly searched for audio recordings of recitals given by some of classical music’s greatest pianists. Among the artists are Jorge Bolet, Mieszyslaw Horszowski, Raymond Lewenthal, […]

French pianist Bruno Belthoise talks about keeping Florent Schmitt’s Une semaine du petit elfe Ferme-l’oeil (1912) part of his performing repertoire over the years.

December 10, 2017 · by Phillip Nones | in Ballet, Chamber Music, Classical Music, Composers, French Composers, Piano Four-Hand Music, Piano Music | tagged Adolfo Rascon Carbajal, Antonio Rosado, Bruno Belthoise, CeDeCe, Claude Maillols, Claudio Carneyro, Fabien Gabel, Florent Schmitt Schmitt, Francesca Todesco, Francisco de Lacerda, French Composers, Hans Christian Andersen, Isadora Duncan, JoAnn Falletta, Joao Costa Ferreira, Julia Levien, Le Petit Elfe, Lisboa-Paris, Luiz Costa, Manoel de Oliveira, Reflets d'Allemagne, Saison France-Portugal, Schola Cantorum, Sergio Azevedo, Teresa Valente Pereira, Trio Pangea, Trois Rapsodies, Une semaine due petit elfe Ferme-loeil | Leave a comment

In 2013, one of the earliest interviews I conducted for the Florent Schmitt Website + Blog was with the French pianist Bruno Belthoise. I had discovered him from YouTube, where several movements of Florent Schmitt’s piano four-hand suite Une semaine du petit elfe Ferme-l’oeil, Opus 58 had been uploaded from a performance he gave at the […]

Forgotten Records: Resurrecting noteworthy commercial and broadcast recordings of Florent Schmitt’s music from the LP era.

May 1, 2014 · by Phillip Nones | in Ballet, Chamber Music, Classical Music, Composers, French Composers, Organ Music, Piano Four-Hand Music, Piano Music, Uncategorized | tagged Alain Deguernel, Albert Wolff, Charles Bruck, Chorale Elisabeth Brasseur, Classical Music, Clavecin obtemperant, Danse des Devadasis, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Eugene Bigot, Fete de la lumiere, Florent Schmitt, Forgotten Records, French Composers, Fritz Munch, Gustave Cloez, Habeyssee, Hasards, Henri Tomasi, Igor Markevitch, Inghelbrecht, Jean Fournet, Jean Giardino, Jean-Marie Darre, Louis Fremaux, Madeleine Vautier, Maurice Babin, Orchestre Lamoureux, Oriane et le Prince d'amour, Petit Elfe Ferme l'Oeil, Pierre-Michel Le Conte, Pupazzi, Remus Tzincoca, Salome, Schmitt, Semiramis, Sonate libre, String Quartet, Tony Aubin, Tragedie de Salome, Trois danses, Trois Rapsodies | 2 Comments

There’s no question that in the past two decades, the breadth and depth of French composer Florent Schmitt’s music that has made it to the microphones has increased dramatically. Nearly every year, we are treated to world premiere recordings of more Schmitt works. The most recent examples are the complete works for piano duo and duet as […]

Brilliance and Sophistication: Florent Schmitt’s Trois Rapsodies for Two Pianos (1903-04)

April 14, 2014 · by Phillip Nones | in Classical Music, Composers, French Composers, Piano Four-Hand Music, Piano Music | tagged Alfred De Veto, Andrey Kasparov, Camille Chevillard, Casadesus, Charles Burr, Classical Music, Dr. William Mason, Florent Schmitt, Forgotten Records, Francaise, Frank Cooper, French Composers, Gaby Casadesus, Georges Longy, Gunnar Johansen, Invencia Piano Duo, Jacques Lacombe, Jacques Mercier, JoAnn Falletta, Josef Stransky, Leopold Stokowski, Les Apaches, Leslie De'Ath, Lionel Bringuier, Martin Marks, Nones, Orchestre Lamoureux, Paul Paray, Piano Duo, Piano Music, Polonaise, Rhapsodie Parisienne, Schmitt, Stephane Deneve, Trois Rapsodies, Viennoise | 2 Comments

One of the most satisfying of Florent Schmitt’s extensive trove of music for piano duet and duo – and the one that is my personal favorite of all of them – is Trois Rapsodies, Op. 53, a work he composed in 1903-4. Made up of three movements titled Française, Polonaise and Viennoise, it is a work that fully engages […]