Bill Barclay, music director of Shakespeare’s Globe, talks about bringing Florent Schmitt’s Antony & Cleopatra (1920) to the Hollywood Bowl and the Barbican Centre.

December 3, 2016 · by Phillip Nones | in Ballet, Composers, French Composers | tagged Andre Gide, Antoine et Cleopatre, Antony & Cleopatra, Barbican, BBC Symphony, Bill Barclay, Bramwell Tovey, Florent Schmitt, Hollywood Bowl, Iqbal Khan, Jess Lusk, Kimberly Schuette, LAPO, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Lucy Taylor, Mark Pullinger, Paul Hughes, Rob Cross, Rodney Martell, Sakari Oramo, Schmitt, Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Globe, Virginia Arts Festival, William Shakespeare | Leave a comment

Florent Schmitt’s incidental music to Antoine et Cléopâtre, Op. 69 is one of the composer’s most intriguing works – a bright star in the constellation of sumptuous “orientalist” compositions created by this French master. The music was composed for André Gide’s 1920 adaptation of Shakespeare’s play, with the role of Cleopatra performed by the celebrated […]

Is Florent Schmitt’s Antony & Cleopatra (1920) beginning the transition from “rarity” to “rep we know”?

April 16, 2016 · by Phillip Nones | in Classical Music, Composers, French Composers | tagged Andre Gide, Antoine et Cleopatre, Antony & Cleopatra, Barbican, BBC Music Magazine, BBC Symphony, Berlioz, Bill Barclay, Bramwell Tovey, Buffalo Philharmonic, Cybelia, Fabien Gabel, Fanfare Magazine, Florent Schmitt, Hollywood Bowl, Ida Rubinstein, JoAnn Falletta, Jongen, Korngold, LAPO, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Mahler, Much Ado About Nothing, NAXOS Classics, Orchestre de Paris, Romeo & Juliet, Sakari Oramo, Schmitt, Shakespeare, Shakespeare 400, Shakespeare's Globe, Symphony Concertante, Tchaikovsky, The Classical Source, William Shakespeare | 1 Comment

This year, Florent Schmitt’s opulent score will be presented by two leading orchestras — the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the BBC Symphony — in collaboration with Shakespeare’s Globe. It’s quite interesting to witness a piece of classical music make the journey from being a rarity to becoming mainstream. I can think of several examples, headlined by […]

American orchestral conductor JoAnn Falletta talks about performing and recording the music of Florent Schmitt (Antoine et Cléopâtre and Le Palais hanté).

March 12, 2015 · by Phillip Nones | in Ballet, Choral Music, Classical Music, Composers, French Composers | tagged Antoine et Cleopatre, Antony & Cleopatra, BPO, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Debussy, Edgar Allan Poe, Florent Schmitt, Franz Schmidt, French Composers, Impressionism, JoAnn Falletta, Le Palais Hante, NAXOS, Poe, Ravel, Richard Strauss, Schmitt, Shakespeare, Sixten Ehrling, Symphonic Poem, The Haunted Palace, Virginia Symphony, William Shakespeare | 2 Comments

Recorded in March 2015 by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the pieces are slated for release on the NAXOS label later this year. Under its music director JoAnn Falletta, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra has established something of a reputation for programming neglected scores from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including performances in recent years of works […]