Antony and Cleopatra
Incidental music by Florent Schmitt
Virginia Symphony Orchestra
JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Bill Barclay, director
Antonio Ocampo-Guzman, Associate Director
Produced by Concert Theatre Works
As originally produced by Shakespeare’s Globe and the BBC Symphony Orchestra
Rediscover a Shakespeare classic, enhanced by a long-lost musical score—in the East Coast premiere of a lavish production that has made headlines!
With costumed actors and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra conducted by JoAnn Falletta, you’ll hear Shakespeare’s lush language in a new way as you discover music that stirs the pulse. This must-see version of the Shakespeare classic has only been performed twice before — once in London and once at the Hollywood Bowl — and drew lavish critical acclaim: “Four stars! There was a superb synchronicity between actors and orchestra, with every emotional shift carefully underscored. Antony and Cleopatra loved and fought while Schmitt’s music at its most extravagant surged around them. Fascinating, every second of it” (
The Guardian, London).
French composer Florent Schmitt’s wild, exotic, sumptuous music was written for an extravagant production of Shakespeare’s
Antony & Cleopatra with full orchestra at the Paris Opera in 1920. Schmitt clearly had a knack for melodrama; he supplies orgiastic dances, tempestuous sea battles and other dynamically theatrical sections but also supple and restrained mood pieces that seem to yearn for the poetry that inspired them.
About Concert Theatre Works
Concert Theatre Works was founded to help musicians tell stories. We currently represent a wide range of projects for touring that have been commissioned by some of the world’s leading venues, including The Hollywood Bowl, Shakespeare’s Globe, Broadway, The Barbican, Washington National Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, and Tanglewood.
Over 10 years of unique international collaborations, a new genre is emerging which Bill Barclay calls concert theatre: music telling story. This new framework is vital for the future of classical music. While keeping the music at its centre, the concert world must innovate to survive, embracing new collaborations that evolve our relationship to the standard repertory.
Partners include The Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, City of London Sinfonia, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Silkroad Ensemble, Musicians of Shakespeare’s Globe, Virginia Symphony Orchestra, and The English Concert.
Our original works have been conducted by some of the world’s leading maestros: Andris Nelsons, Charles Dutoit, Bramwell Tovey, Sakari Oramo, Trevor Pinnock, JoAnn Falletta, Hans Graf and Ken-David Masur. Soloists include Alison Balsom, Camilla Tilling, Amy Dickson, Soumik Datta, Keira Duffy and Abigail Fisher. New collaborations include the puppetry masters Gyre & Gimble, composer Max Richter, and new works for young audiences.
Find out more here: https://concerttheatreworks.com/
Co-presented with Virginia Symphony Orchestra.