Schmitt reviews
Schmitt: Le Tragédie de Salomé, etc
Buffalo Philharmonic/JoAnn Falletta (Naxos)
Schmitt - Mélodies
Sybille Diethelm (soprano), et al; Edward Rushton (piano) (Resonus Classics)
BBC Symphony Orchestra and Sakari Oramo perform Schmitt
If you had to describe Florent Schmitt’s music for Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra – composed in 1920 for a production starring the Russian dancer and actress Ida Rubinstein – you would say it mingles Ravel and Debussy with a generous sprinkling of Rimsky-Korsakov’s orientalism. The results are, in the opening movement of the two suites recorded here, headily exotic, as harp, celeste and solo violin add sensual commentary to the lovers’ nocturnal assignation.
Sascha Goetzel conducts Respighi, Hindemith & Schmitt
Istanbul is a European Capital of Culture for 2010, and this is the debut international release of its hometown Philharmonic, a full-size symphonic ensemble for over a decade, with ambitions to be one of Europe’s top ten orchestras.
Schmitt: Psalm XLVII; La tragédie de Salomé; Suite sans esprit de suite
Schmitt’s La tragédie de Salomé was his best-known work during his lifetime, and one of the most celebrated ballets in Paris in the period around the First World War. Written within months of Strauss’s opera, Schmitt’s ballet views Salome not as evil temptress, but as manipulated and haunted innocent, hence the ‘tragedy’.
Schmitt: La Tragédie de Salome; Psaume 47
Two of the major achievements of a neglected French master. The fiery and flamboyant setting of Psalm 47 and the richly exotic ballet score invite further exploration of a fascinating, largely forgotten figure.
Emmanuel Pahud: The French Connection
Emmanuel Pahud has a knack for constructing marvellous programmes and this delightful disc is no exception. The composers here are, for the most part, familiar enough, but the repertoire is seldom heard. The vintage port of Paul Meyer’s clarinet is the constant companion to the sparkling lead crystal of Pahud’s flute. The pair excel in Jolivet’s gritty Sonatine, having shared the limelight with oboist François Meyer and pianist Eric le Sage in Milhaud’s Sonata, Op. 47.
Schmitt: Six Choruses, Op. 81; En bonnes voix; Three Trios, Op. 99; De vives voix; Five Refrains, Op. 132
No translation of the French song texts to Florent Schmitt's complete works for female voices is on offer from Calliope, but perhaps the loss is not too great. When translations are attempted, the success is partial only: the choir, for example, is described as being 'agées de dix-huit à trente ans', rendered into English as 'aged between 16 and 20'.
Schmitt: Six Choruses, Op. 81; En bonnes voix; Three Trios, Op. 99; De vives voix; Five Refrains, Op. 132
No translation of the French song texts to Florent Schmitt's complete works for female voices is on offer from Calliope, but perhaps the loss is not too great. When translations are attempted, the success is partial only: the choir, for example, is described as being 'agées de dix-huit à trente ans', rendered into English as 'aged between 16 and 20'.
Schmitt: Six Choruses, Op. 81; En bonnes voix; Three Trios, Op. 99; De vives voix; Five Refrains, Op. 132
No translation of the French song texts to Florent Schmitt's complete works for female voices is on offer from Calliope, but perhaps the loss is not too great. When translations are attempted, the success is partial only: the choir, for example, is described as being 'agées de dix-huit à trente ans', rendered into English as 'aged between 16 and 20'.
Schmitt: Six Choruses, Op. 81; En bonnes voix; Three Trios, Op. 99; De vives voix; Five Refrains, Op. 132
No translation of the French song texts to Florent Schmitt's complete works for female voices is on offer from Calliope, but perhaps the loss is not too great. When translations are attempted, the success is partial only: the choir, for example, is described as being 'agées de dix-huit à trente ans', rendered into English as 'aged between 16 and 20'.
Schmitt: Symphony No. 2; Danse d'Abisag; Habeyssée; Rêves
This latest disc in Marco Polo’s ever-mushrooming catalogue of rarities shows two sides of Florent Schmitt’s art. On the one hand is the Impressionist legacy of Debussy (fascinatingly combined with hints of Scriabin and Szymanowski), on the other, the neo-classicism of Roussel. The latter (Habeyssée, Symphony No. 2) come off better here: the more voluptuous Schmitt sound cries out for something like the Montreal SO/Dutoit treatment. The sound here is somewhat dry and the playing efficient rather than wholehearted. Matthew Rye
Debussy/Ravel/Schmitt
Written for the house musicians of Nadezhda von Meck (Tchaikovsky’s benefactress) while Debussy was still a student, his early Piano Trio is suffused with the spirit of Massenet. However, the harmonic freedom which caused exasperation in several of Debussy’s teachers is also beginning to flourish in this delectable unpublished early work. Despite an occasional thinness of string tone, the Joachim Trio conveys warmth, charm and an appropriate hint of youthful innocence.
Dutilleux/Schmitt/Dukas
Debussy regarded the Dukas Piano Sonata as being an example of the utmost perfection in composition, and it would be hard to disagree. I am uncertain whether the Dutilleux has received similar plaudits, but it is no less a masterpiece. Add an artist of the calibre of John Ogdon to the equation and something special can be expected. The performances are alive with insight as Ogdon traverses the gamut of emotions with ease and no little passion. Strongly recommended. Christopher Dingle
Debussy, Caplet, DÕindy, Schmitt & Ravel
The inspiration for this recording derives from a remarkable American woman, Elise Boyer Hall, who was both a music entrepreneur of exceptional vision and the saxophonist responsible for contributing a great deal to the early repertoire of the instrument. Advised to take up the saxophone for health reasons, she commissioned at least 22 predominantly French works between 1900 and 1915 and was at the centre of music-making in Boston.
Creston, Schmitt, Hindemith, Desenclos, Charpentier & Denisov
This set includes four of the most important works in the repertoire alongside rarely heard pieces by Schmitt and Charpentier. The most familiar is Creston’s beautifully crafted Sonata, which exploits many different facets of the instruments’ expressive range. The performances throughout are absolutely superb, not only technically flawless, but totally convincing in their interpretations.
Schmitt: Lied et Scherzo; Suite en rocaille; À tour d'anches; Chants alizés
Florent Schmitt isn’t one of those composers whose stylistic voice you can recognise in an instant – unlike his older, and unquestionably greater compatriots Fauré and Debussy. In fact, those two formidable figures left a strong imprint on Schmitt, as did Franck and Wagner. But the music isn’t derivative – there’s a distinctive flavour. A love of opulence and arabesque, unforced rhythmic freedom and sharp ear for texture are as strongly evident in these pieces as they are in the grander and better-known Tragédie de Salomé and Psalm 47.
Schmitt: Musiques intimes, Book 1; Musiques intimes, Book 2; Nuits romaines; Small Gestures; Prélude... pour une suite à venir
Surprisingly little of Florent Schmitt’s large output is available on disc and in historical perspective he still has to emerge from the shadows of his friends and contemporaries Ravel and Debussy. This disc of world premiere recordings is at the very least useful for putting a handful more of his works into the public domain. Ivo Kaltchev is a Bulgarian pianist trained in the Russian tradition and now based in the USA.
Schmitt: Six Choruses, Op. 81; En bonnes voix; Three Trios, Op. 99; De vives voix; Five Refrains, Op. 132
No translation of the French song texts to Florent Schmitt's complete works for female voices is on offer from Calliope, but perhaps the loss is not too great. When translations are attempted, the success is partial only: the choir, for example, is described as being 'agées de dix-huit à trente ans', rendered into English as 'aged between 16 and 20'.