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Four compositions spanning Florent Schmitt’s seven-decade career as a composer are part of the 2023-24 symphony season. (Portrait: Pierrette Lambert, 1992)
For the upcoming 2023-24 concert season, the popularity of Florent Schmitt’s ballet La Tragédie de Salomé continues apace. Indeed, the composer’s best-known orchestral work has been been on an upward trajectory in popularity in the past decade — a trend that sees no sign of abating.
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Gottfried Rabl
This coming season, not only will Salomé be presented in the composer’s familiar 1910 reworking for large orchestra, Florent Schmitt’s original stage version written in 1907 for the American-born dancer Loïe Fuller will be presented at the Vienna Konzerthall by Ensemble Kontrapunkte under the direction of Austrian conductor Gottfried Rabl. Schmitt’s original ballet score contains nearly double the music of the version the world knows best, even as it was scored for an ensemble of just twenty musicians.
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A poster from 1907 portraying Loïe Fuller and her lead role in Florent Schmitt’s ballet La Tragédie de Salomé, presented at the Théâtre des Arts (now Théâtre Hébertot) in Paris.
Also this season, three conductors who are particular champions of Schmitt’s best-known orchestral work — Stéphane Denève, JoAnn Falletta and Fabien Gabel — will continue to advocate for Schmitt’s Salomé in concert performances in Europe and North America.
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Belgian conductor Martijn Dendievel will direct the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra in Florent Schmitt’s early composition Soirs, a work originally written for piano and orchestrated by the composer shortly thereafter.
Beyond the Salomé, early works by Schmitt that are being programmed this season are Soirs and Musique sur l’eau, along with Schmitt’s late-career Suite en trois parties for trumpet and orchestra.
Thus, the upcoming concert season contains much to entice Schmittians around the world to make plans to attend the events. Listed below are details on the upcoming performances, including web links to additional information and to reserve tickets. (Note: More concerts are likely to be announced in the coming weeks, and this listing will be updated accordingly.)
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September 18, 2023
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Schmitt: Suite en trois parties Op. 133 (1955)
Jolivet: Concertino for Trumpet, Piano & Orchestra
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Poulenc: Sinfonietta
Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1 for Piano, Trumpet & String Orchestra
Orchestra della Svizzera italiana; Fabien Gabel, conductor
Håkan Hardenberger, trumpet
Bertrand Chamayou, piano
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December 1, 3, 2023
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Schmitt: Musique sur l’eau, Op. 33 (1898/1913)
Schmitt: La Tragédie de Salomé, Op. 50 (1907/10)
Ravel: Boléro
Ravel: La Valse
Roussel: Bacchus et Ariane, Op. 43: Suite No. 2
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra & Women’s Chorus; JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Susan Platts, mezzo-soprano
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December 3, 2023
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Schmitt: Soirs, Op. 5 (1892-98)
Debussy: Première Rhapsodie for Clarinet & Chamber Orchestra
Gordon: Concerto for Clarinet & Chamber Orchestra (“Furmée”)
Honegger: Pastorale d’été
Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne; Martijn Dendievel, conductor
Davide Bandieri, clarinet
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December 15, 2023
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Schmitt: La Tragédie de Salomé, Op. 50 (1907/10)
Connesson: Les Cités de Lovecraft: Céléphaïs
Gershwin: An American in Paris
Ravel: Shéhérazade
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra; Stéphane Denève, conductor
Stéphanie d’Oustrac, soprano
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January 20, 21, 2024
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Schmitt: La Tragédie de Salomé, Op. 50 (1907/10)
Ravel: Shéhérazade
Roussel: Le Festin de l’arraignée
New World Symphony Orchestra; Stéphane Denève, conductor
Isabel Leonard, soprano
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February 26, 2024
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Schmitt: La Tragédie de Salomé, Op. 50 (original version – 1907)
Connesson: Double Quatuor
Saunders: Skin
Ensemble Kontrapunkte; Gottfried Rabl, conductor
Kaoko Amano, soprano
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May 8, 9, 11, 2024
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Schmitt: La Tragédie de Salomé, Op. 50 (1907/10)
Glass: Double Concerto for Two Pianos & Orchestra
Ravel: Le Tombeau de Couperin
Richard Strauss: Salome: Dance of the Seven Veils
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal; Fabien Gabel, conductor
Katia & Marielle Labèque, duo-pianos
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More information on these upcoming concerts can be found on the web pages of the various arts organizations (click or tap on the links above).