This CD on the Naxos label features conductor JoAnn Faletta and her Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra performing two works by Florent Schmitt (1870-1958). As indicated in the informative liner notes, Mr. Schmitt studied composition under Massenet and Faure at the Paris Conservatoire, and Erik Satie and Maurice Ravel were close friends. It is therefore no surprise that his music for “Antony and Cleopatra” is evocative of images in the same way that a well-written film score attempts to accomplish. In fact, my first thought upon hearing the two suites was that this was indeed the work of a composer who would have done well writing musical scores. The first suite sonically describes the obvious attraction and love between Antony and Cleopatra, which is followed by “Le Camp de Pompee” and then “Bataille d’Actium”, a depiction in jagged tones of the Roman defeat of Egypt on land and at sea. This suite sets the stage very well for Suite No. 2, and “Nuit au Palais de la Reine” contains a glorious performance of an English horn describing a sensual night in Cleopatra’s palace. “Orgie et Danses” is next, and the movement has definite Stravinsky-like sonorities up to the point where Cleopatra’s death is depicted with some rather snake-like sinuous tones by the woodwinds. The final movement of the work is “Le Tombeau de Cleopatre”, a rather somber and evocative soundscape to describe Cleopatra’s tomb and the emotional results of her romance with Antony. The other work on the recording is based upon Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Haunted Palace”, a very short 48 line work, a portion of which is reproduced in the liner notes. The text was translated into French by the poet Stephane Mallarme, and it appears to be from this that Schmitt worked to create this particularly tone based work. It is pleasing that this is not melancholy in the slightest, but rather more upliftingly energetic in a “life cannot be contained” sort of way. This is definitely not a gloom-and-doom piece, and is very exciting. I must confess that I am very much a JoAnn Faletta fan, and having had the privilege of seeing her work in person in a guest conductor capacity, I have seen first-hand the “something extra” that she brings to every performance. And on this recording, I most certainly hear that which I have experienced live. I was previously not familiar with Schmitt’s music, but that is a shortcoming that I shall rectify shortly. This is wonderful music, and if Stravinsky and especially the more directed music of Ravel is right up your alley, then you will likely enjoy this recording. Strongly recommended.