Schmidt:
La Tragédie de Salomé OP. 50 - Poeme

Franck:
Symphony in D Minor

Under the baton of international star conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Orchestre Métropolitain performs the rarely-recorded symphonic poem La tragédie de Salomé by French composer Florent Schmitt (1870-1958). In Schmitt’s first version, Salome was a one-hour ballet scored for only 20 musicians. In 1910, Schmitt reduced the work’s length by half, while greatly expanding its orchestration.

The shorter version recorded on this disc is the one that is best known today. Each of its two parts consists of a long, slow movement followed by one or more fast dances a beautifully-wrought, symmetrical structure with vast contrasts in mood. Maestro Nézet-Séguin also conducts César Franck’s Symphony in D minor on this CD.