Florent Schmitt: Suites from 'Antoine et Cléopâtre' & Symphony No. 2

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The sultry, mysterious textures…are evocatively conjured by Oramo and the BBC Symphony players. Feverish, bacchanalian energies are unleashed in ‘Orgie et Danses’…[in the Symphony] Oramo does... — BBC Music Magazine, May 2018, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 2nd Mar 2018
Catalogue No: CHSA5200
Label: Chandos
Length: 77 minutes

Presto Recording of the Week

9th March 2018
Presto Recordings of the Year

Finalist 2018

This item is currently out of stock at the UK distributor. You may order it now but please be aware that it may be six weeks or more before it can be despatched.

Schmitt, F: Antoine et Cléopâtre Suite No. 1, Op. 69a

Work length23:26

$5.00

$5.20

$6.40

BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo
Recorded: 29 and 30 October 2017
Recording Venue: Watford Colosseum

I. Antoine et Cléopâtre

Track length12:39

$3.00

$2.60

$3.20

II. Le camp de Pompée

Track length4:19

$1.00

$1.30

$1.60

III. Bataille d'Actium

Track length6:28

$1.00

$1.30

$1.60

Schmitt, F: Antoine et Cléopâtre Suite No. 2, Op. 69b

Work length26:51

$7.00

$6.50

$8.00

BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo
Recorded: 29 and 30 October 2017
Recording Venue: Watford Colosseum

I. Nuit au palais de la reine

Track length7:52

$2.00

$1.95

$2.40

II. Orgie et danses

Track length11:01

$3.00

$2.60

$3.20

III. Le tombeau de Cléopâtre

Track length7:58

$2.00

$1.95

$2.40

Schmitt, F: Symphony No. 2, Op. 137

Work length27:33

$7.00

$5.85

$7.20

BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo
Recorded: 29 and 30 October 2017
Recording Venue: Watford Colosseum

I. Assez animé - Moins vite, voire très calme

Track length8:04

$2.00

$1.95

$2.40

II. Lent sans excès

Track length10:11

$3.00

$1.95

$2.40

III. Animé - Lent

Track length9:18

$2.00

$1.95

$2.40

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Recording of the Week, Music by Florent Schmitt conducted by Sakari Oramo

9th March 2018

James listens to a wonderful new recording of music by the neglected French composer Florent Schmitt, including his ballet suites, Antoine et Cléopâtre.

Making his debut on Chandos, Sakari Oramo, who with the BBC Symphony Orchestra this year has championed new and rarely performed works, presents in surround sound the extravagant musical world of Florent Schmitt. The recording follows two exceptional Barbican performances with the same forces, a ‘sensuous and exotic’ Antoine et Cléopâtre, according to the Financial Times (2016), and the first performance for nearly a dozen years of Symphony No. 2 (2017). The Second Symphony, the last major work by Schmitt, has nothing valedictory about it: as lavish and rhythmically sophisticated as his earlier music, emphatically bounding in fast passages and supple in slow, it also encompasses all the different musical expressions and styles that he had used over almost eight decades of composing. On the other hand, it is far from being an ‘old man’s piece’. ‘It is really exuberant — very, very inventive, and incredibly busy for everyone’, as Sakari Oramo explained in a BBC Radio 3 interview. The symphony is paired with the two orchestral suites from Antoine et Cléopâtre, music written for Shakespeare’s play, premiered in 1920 at the Paris Opéra, and very rarely recorded since then.

Reviews

May 2018

The sultry, mysterious textures…are evocatively conjured by Oramo and the BBC Symphony players. Feverish, bacchanalian energies are unleashed in ‘Orgie et Danses’…[in the Symphony] Oramo does an especially fine job stitching a narrative thread together from the multiple shifts of mood and perspective…For the Symphony in particular, this splendidly recorded disc is worth investigating, especially if you know little or none of Schmitt’s music.

23rd February 2018

In this BBC Symphony Orchestra performance, conducted by Sakari Oramo and recorded with characteristic opulence by Chandos, the work comes across as an enjoyable indulgent orchestral showpiece- full of incident and variety. Schmitt’s ingratiating Gallic style is always appealing.

2nd March 2018

His music for Antoine et Cléopâtre is wonderfully evocative and sumptuous, like a cross between Debussy and Richard Strauss...Oramo is a most persuasive advocate of Schmitt’s music; it’s clear that he adores this music and revels in the lush harmonies on offer.

Classical Music April 2018

Beautifully recorded, this is a terrific introduction to the music of Florent Schmitt (1870-1958), presented in demonstration-standard SACD sound. The two suites from Antoine et Cléopâtre are astonishing – often Straussian, Ravelian, sensual and gestural. Scoring throughout is the work of a master, including some exquisite nocturnal sound-painting (‘Nuit au palais de la Reine’, Suite No 2). The BBC Symphony Orchestra sounds lush and decadent, the recording supporting its sound perfectly. [Symphony No. 2] The emotional core is the dark, deeply interior second movement, beautifully sculpted and balanced by Oramo; the finale is capricious yet complex. A superb release.

classicalsource.com February 2018

It is a fascinating and, indeed, compelling mixture, at all times securely handled by a composer who knows exactly what he is doing and why, and one who conveys that certainty to the listener. The result is late musical Impressionism of a very high order …Oramo proves himself yet again a master-conductor in obtaining such outstanding playing.

The Arts Desk 19th May 2018

Chandos's sound is impressive, and Oramo’s lustrous BBC Symphony Orchestra does Schmitt proud – let's hope that a follow-up is in the works.

Classical Ear June 2018

The Three-movement Symphony carries itself with an undemanding, if pleasing, blend of Gallic flair and finesse.

Florent Schmitt: Suites from 'Antoine et Cléopâtre' & Symphony No. 2

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Recording of the Week, Music by Florent Schmitt conducted by Sakari Oramo

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