Florent Schmitt life spanned both the late Romantic and 20th century eras and he counted Erik Satie and Maurice Ravel among his close friends. For most of his career he worked as a music critic and early on perceptively predicted the influence jazz would have on the future of serious music. His compositional output was comprised of a mish-mash potpourri of styles which included scores for theatre, including ballet and stage plays, including this collection of incidental music for Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra featuring the Buffalo Philharmonic conducted by JoAnn Falletta.

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Review:

The performances are admirably stylish, while the Buffalo Philharmonic boast nicely dexterous strings and woodwind.

– Gramophone