La tragédie de Salomé

"Editor's choices - November 2020: The Buffalo players sound terrific in Schmitt's two large-scale 'Orientalist' ballet suites, with a fabulously glossy proto-Hollywood sheen to the strings and some especially characterful playing from the cor anglais and trumpets; Falletta is mindful of both works' origins in dance, and achieves a lovely shimmering transparency in passages that could easily seem overblown. It's also great to hear the world premiere recording of the orchestral version of Musique sur l'eau, composed in 1898 and orchestrated fifteen years later, which has more than a whisper of Debussy's La mer about it".

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"Recording of the week: This outstanding new performance from Alain Altinoglu and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra joins an extremely small number of recordings of the original, full-length version, and it is most certainly a sumptuous treat. It's such a vivid score, all brought out beautifully by Altinoglu and his players".

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"There's no shortage of recordings of [La tragédie de Salomé], including excellent versions by Jean Martinon and Yan Pascal Tortelier, but Falletta's version communicates the atmosphere, luxuriousness and power of Schmitt's score as well as any ... The solo part [of the Légende] is performed by the Buffalo Philharmonic's concertmaster Nikki Chooi with total conviction and assurance. Altogether a most desirable release".

"Alain Alitnoglu is a persuasive guide and the Frankfurt Radio Symphony have its measure more fully than versions conducted by Patrick Davin or Julien Masmondet ... For this score, as Schmitt conceived it, Altinoglu is selfevidently the first choice".

"The Orchestre Métropolitain is not too dissimilar to its more illustrious Montréal neighbours under Charles Dutoit - brass playing on the polite side, matched by refined string playing ... If the coupling appeals, or if you wish to familiarize yourself with this young conductor's work (and he's worth following), then this is a recommendable disc".

"Vurdering: E (Editor's choice)" - "Nézet-Séguin has a strong grasp of the symphony's structure, its ebb and flow of dynamics and pace, and its rich spectrum of orchestral colouring".