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Florent Schmitt: La Tragedie de Salome; Chant Élégiaque
Florent Schmitt: La Tragedie de Salome; Chant Élégiaque in Bloomington, MN
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Florent Schmitt
's
La Tragédie de Salomé, Op. 50
, composed in 1907, is sometimes called a ballet, but the music was actually written for a dance in a genre that hardly exists anymore: the mimed drama for a single dancer. This lovely recording makes one want to see a live performance re-creating the original work. The genre was already on the way out in
Schmitt
's time, and he recast the work for a full orchestra, but this recording is of the original version for 20 orchestral players, and it is a rare item indeed. That was probably one factor propelling the album onto classical best-seller charts in the spring of 2024, and another is the likewise rare and utterly haunting
Chant Élégiaque, Op. 24
, that brings down the curtain. The latter is a work that every cellist ought to get to know. Beyond rarity is the music itself, which
Igor Stravinsky
greatly admired and which probably influenced him in its wealth of orchestral sounds. Those expecting the lubricious moods of
Richard Strauss
' opera
Salome, Op. 54
, of 1905, will be getting something else, an altogether more graceful kind of seduction, in a set of dances interspersed with tableaux of great delicacy. Given the subject matter, there is no avoiding an erotic element, but it is handled in such a way as to bring the work to a perfectly controlled high point, and any audience will enjoy the work, including those who find
Strauss
too far over the top. The performances by the
Frankfurt Radio Symphony
under
Alain Altinoglu
are splendid, obviously reflecting a lot of rehearsal work in catching the subtle orchestral textures, and the
Alpha
label, which has lately issued so many fine recordings of little-known repertory, scores as well with the entirely idiomatic sound environment of a Hessian Radio studio in Germany. A real find. ~ James Manheim
's
La Tragédie de Salomé, Op. 50
, composed in 1907, is sometimes called a ballet, but the music was actually written for a dance in a genre that hardly exists anymore: the mimed drama for a single dancer. This lovely recording makes one want to see a live performance re-creating the original work. The genre was already on the way out in
Schmitt
's time, and he recast the work for a full orchestra, but this recording is of the original version for 20 orchestral players, and it is a rare item indeed. That was probably one factor propelling the album onto classical best-seller charts in the spring of 2024, and another is the likewise rare and utterly haunting
Chant Élégiaque, Op. 24
, that brings down the curtain. The latter is a work that every cellist ought to get to know. Beyond rarity is the music itself, which
Igor Stravinsky
greatly admired and which probably influenced him in its wealth of orchestral sounds. Those expecting the lubricious moods of
Richard Strauss
' opera
Salome, Op. 54
, of 1905, will be getting something else, an altogether more graceful kind of seduction, in a set of dances interspersed with tableaux of great delicacy. Given the subject matter, there is no avoiding an erotic element, but it is handled in such a way as to bring the work to a perfectly controlled high point, and any audience will enjoy the work, including those who find
Strauss
too far over the top. The performances by the
Frankfurt Radio Symphony
under
Alain Altinoglu
are splendid, obviously reflecting a lot of rehearsal work in catching the subtle orchestral textures, and the
Alpha
label, which has lately issued so many fine recordings of little-known repertory, scores as well with the entirely idiomatic sound environment of a Hessian Radio studio in Germany. A real find. ~ James Manheim
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