Florent Schmitt’s orchestral works are featured in the new 2023-24 season of concerts in Ascona-Locarno, Helsinki, Lausanne, Miami, Montréal, Vancouver and Vienna.

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.

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.

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.

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

Schmitt: Suite en trois parties Op. 133 (1955)

Jolivet: Concertino for Trumpet, Piano & Orchestra

Poulenc: Sinfonietta

Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 1 for Piano, Trumpet & String Orchestra

Orchestra della Svizzera italiana; Fabien Gabel, conductor

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December 1, 3, 2023

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

Davide Bandieri, clarinet

December 15, 2023

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

January 20, 21, 2024

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

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

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).