Schmitt: Le petit elfe Ferme-l’oeil & Introït, récit et congé

Featuring

Jacques Mercier
Aline Martin
Henri Demarquette
Orchestre National de Lorraine
Florent Schmitt

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Recording & Production

This album was recorded in July 2013 at the Arsenal in Metz, a venue known as one of Europe's finest concert halls, reinvented from a 19th-century military arsenal.

Performer Biography

Conductor Jacques Mercier, who leads the Orchestre national de Lorraine on this recording, was named "Musical Personality of the Year 2002" by the Syndicat professionnel de la critique dramatique et musicale.

Composition History

Florent Schmitt's ballet "Le Petit Elfe Ferme-l'Œil" was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale "Ole-Luk-Oie, the Dream-God."

Compositional Technique

Florent Schmitt's "Introït, Récit et Congé" for cello and orchestra was written for the virtuoso cellist André Navarra, with the movements linked to challenge the performer.

Composition History

The original seven piano pieces for "Le Petit Elfe Ferme-l'Œil" were composed by Florent Schmitt in 1912 and dedicated to his six-year-old son, Jean, nicknamed "Raton."

Composer's Artistic Vision

Florent Schmitt was a proponent of a "Franco-Russian" style, blending Debussy's Impressionism with the opulent sound palettes of Russian composers like Rimsky-Korsakov and Balakirev.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Florent Schmitt, like Ravel, Dukas, and Stravinsky, was a major contributor to the symphonic ballet genre during the Art Nouveau period, known for its rich orchestration.