La tragédie de Salomé / Chant élégiaque

Description

Florent Schmitt composed music in 1907 to accompany a mimodrama danced by Loïe Fuller, La Tragédie de Salomé. His music overflows with colors, energy, and sensuality… as well as Eastern influences, due to his travels in Morocco and Constantinople where he discovered the whirling dervishes. In the final tableau rises the heart-wrenching “Chant d’Aïcha,” an oriental melody sung by a soprano voice. This bold and modern music for the listeners of 1907 nonetheless evokes admiration from another composer of the work: Igor Stravinsky… Schmitt would dedicate the Suite symphonique he wrote based on this piece to him. Alain Altinoglu, at the helm of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, of which he has been the musical director since 2021, has chosen to record the original version of this significant score in early 20th-century French music. The beautiful Chant élégiaque, in its version for cello and large orchestra from 1911, completes this program.