The music of composer Florent Schmitt has seen a revival in the 21st century as hard modernism has lost its death grip on concert programming. Yet Schmitt is not so easily classified as a late Romantic conservative, either; the ballet La Tragédie de Salomé heard here features bitonal passages and both influenced, and was influenced by, Stravinsky, its dedicatee. The truth is that Schmitt's music is eclectic in the best way, with influences from Wagner, Debussy, and still newer trends in the air during Schmitt's long career. ...
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The music of composer Florent Schmitt has seen a revival in the 21st century as hard modernism has lost its death grip on concert programming. Yet Schmitt is not so easily classified as a late Romantic conservative, either; the ballet La Tragédie de Salomé heard here features bitonal passages and both influenced, and was influenced by, Stravinsky, its dedicatee. The truth is that Schmitt's music is eclectic in the best way, with influences from Wagner, Debussy, and still newer trends in the air during Schmitt's long career. It is lush and intricately orchestrated, but once listeners settle into its textures, they will find something new around every turn. A good place to start here is the Légende, Op. 66, originally for the novel combination of alto saxophone and orchestra. It would be good to hear the original sometime, but the violin-and-orchestra version here is by the composer himself. Schmitt reworked several of his scores, and his version of La Tragédie de Salomé includes a genuinely thrilling...
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