Phillip Nones studied piano from age six, also playing percussion in educational and civic groups before moving to a rural area of the USA in 1990, where performance opportunities were few. Recently he has started performing again, participating in “side-by-side” orchestra performances and playing percussion in the World Doctors' Orchestra. His personal collection of music includes over 5,000 classical albums in all formats (CDs, LPs, 78s), plus downloads. In his professional life, he heads up a marketing communications firm in the state of Maryland. He blogs about the French composer Florent Schmitt here.
The Royal Scottish National Orchestra proves that old warhorses can still sound fresh when played with a keen ear for color and attention to the little interpretive details.
The Roussel Bacchus et Ariane was the standout performance in a trio of French orchestral works presented by Alan Gilbert and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.
Darrell Ang and members of the Singapore Symphony deliver a crystalline Mother Goose Suite and a high-spirited, straight-from-the-orchestra-pit Ibert Divertissement.
JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic take an exotic journey into the orientalist world of Florent Schmitt, while Konrad Skolarski thrills in Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto.
Pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk delivers a knockout Rachmaninov Paganini Rhapsody while JoAnn Falletta and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and Chorus present memorable Tchaikovsky and Ravel scores.
In Québec, Fabien Gabel, the OSQ Chorus and Orchestra present two rarely heard psalms while soprano Karina Gauvin brings absolute magic to the music of Ravel and Schmitt.
A concert featuring noteworthy choral works by Gabriel Fauré and his students Florent Schmitt and Lili Boulanger brings the fascinating musical milieu of turn-of-the-century Paris to life.
Coming full circle, Bill Barclay brings his adaptation of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra featuring Florent Schmitt’s opulent musical score to the Virginia Arts Festival, led by the conductor whose recording started it all.
In a vibrant Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra program, two repertoire staples were paired with an early Mendelssohn symphony that deserves to be better-known.
JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic present impressive French fare from Florent Schmitt and Germaine Tailleferre, along with a beloved violin concerto that’s a staple of the repertoire.
Korngold's Violin Concerto from Simone Lamsma is delivered with extraordinary deftness and depth, while Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances thrill under Yan Pascal Tortelier and the Pittsburgh Symphony.
A fresh take on timeless classics keeps the interest high in this concert featuring cellist Julian Schwarz and conductor JoAnn Falletta leading the Virginia Symphony Orchestra.
