Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | François-Xavier Roth

Mixed performances in Ligeti and Mozart from Les Siècles at the BBC Proms

By David Truslove, 20 August 2023

Three concertos and a symphony made for an unusual but generous programme, but Les Siècles illustrate that versatility can come with mixed blessings.

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London

20 Aug 2023

Mixed performances in Ligeti and Mozart from Les Siècles

By David Truslove

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A stunning Barbican debut by Les Siècles

By Roy Westbrook, 20 June 2023

Marking their 20th anniversary with a celebratory tour, Les Siècles perform French classics at the Barbican under their twinkle-toed founder, François-Xavier Roth.

*****

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*****

London

20 Jun 2023

A stunning Barbican debut by Les Siècles

By Roy Westbrook

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Aix-en-Provence

Wagner’s Dutchman drops anchor in Provence

By Mark Pullinger, 10 April 2023

The Flying Dutchman – or Le Vaisseau fantôme as it is known in French – makes a fleeting appearance at the Grand Théâtre de Provence in a rousing concert performance conducted by the dapper François-Xavier Roth.

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Aix-en-Provence

10 Apr 2023

Wagner’s Dutchman drops anchor in Provence

By Mark Pullinger

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Edinburgh

Paris 1913 brought to life by Les Siècles and François-Xavier Roth at the EIF

By David Smythe, 16 August 2022

Two works premiered in Paris in 1913 – Lili Boulanger's Faust et Hélène and Stravinsky The Rite of Spring – excite the Edinburgh International Festival audience... but spark no riots.

****1

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Edinburgh

16 Aug 2022

Paris 1913 brought to life by Les Siècles and François-Xavier Roth

By David Smythe

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Compelling music-making from the London Symphony Orchestra

By David Truslove, 11 November 2021

Clarity of articulation and ensemble underlined gripping performances in a programme that could have been a one-horse race.

*****

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*****

London

11 Nov 2021

Compelling music-making from the London Symphony Orchestra

By David Truslove

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Munich

Game, set and match: winning performances of three 20th-century classics in Munich

By Matthew Rye, 04 November 2021

François-Xavier Roth conducts the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra with pianist Kirill Gerstein in a thrillingly played trio of Debussy, Schoenberg and Stravinsky.

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*****

Munich

04 Nov 2021

Game, set and match: winning performances from Roth and the BRSO

By Matthew Rye

An excellent Rhenish from the Rhineland

By Simon Thompson, 22 June 2021

Schumann's Third returns to its spiritual home as François-Xavier Roth conducts the Gürzenich Orchestra in a fine Rhenish.

***11

***11

Cologne

22 Jun 2021

An excellent Rhenish from the Rhineland

By Simon Thompson

Raising a glass to greatness: Gürzenich Orchestra's splendid Stravinsky marathon

By Roy Westbrook, 06 April 2021

The players gathered at the bar for a Scotch as the credits rolled. After three hours and twenty minutes of note-taking, I decided to follow suit.

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Cologne

06 Apr 2021

Raising a glass to greatness: Gürzenich's splendid Stravinsky marathon

By Roy Westbrook

Beethoven and beyond: Gürzenich Orchestra reinvents the concert programme

By Matthew Rye, 21 February 2020

François-Xavier Roth and the Gürzenich Orchestra tear up the traditional concert programme to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth.

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London

21 Feb 2020

Beethoven and beyond: the Gürzenich reinvents the concert programme

By Matthew Rye

Autumnal Elgar and visceral Bartók from Roth, Weilerstein and the LSO

By Mark Valencia, 19 December 2019

At once visceral and disciplined, Roth drew scintillating playing from each section, none more so than the woodwind.

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London

19 Dec 2019

Autumnal Elgar and visceral Bartók from Roth, Weilerstein and the LSO

By Mark Valencia

Lenox

An afternoon of fully-fledged Schumann and Brahms at Tanglewood

By Edward Sava-Segal, 18 August 2019

Yo-Yo Ma again displayed his wonderful expressiveness, his unsurpassed talent to project over his accompaniment.

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Lenox

18 Aug 2019

An afternoon of fully-fledged Schumann and Brahms at Tanglewood

By Edward Sava-Segal

Lenox

François-Xavier Roth makes an impressive Tanglewood debut

By Edward Sava-Segal, 17 August 2019

Kirill Gerstein’s interpretation of Brahms' Second Piano Concerto appeared as a true homage to the great Romanian pianist Radu Lupu.

****1

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Lenox

17 Aug 2019

François-Xavier Roth makes an impressive Tanglewood debut

By Edward Sava-Segal

LSO Futures: A mixed night of mostly new music at the Barbican

By Gus Mitchell, 24 March 2019

The LSO Futures season presented a programme of alternately effective, un-engaging and overpowering music at the Barbican.

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London

24 Mar 2019

LSO Futures: A mixed night of mostly new music at the Barbican

By Gus Mitchell

Cleveland

François-Xavier Roth conducts colorful, brilliant Petrushka in Cleveland

By Timothy Robson, 28 February 2019

Debussy’s student work Rêve received its first Cleveland performance, and pianist Javier Perianes was an impeccable soloist for Ravel’s Concerto in G Major.

****1

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Cleveland

28 Feb 2019

Roth conducts colorful, brilliant Petrushka in Cleveland

By Timothy Robson

From sunrise to dreamy afternoons: orchestral sorcery from François-Xavier Roth and the LSO

By Mark Pullinger, 14 November 2018

Roth's exploration of the roots of musical modernism takes the LSO from Debussy to Strauss via Dvořák's Cello Concerto.

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London

14 Nov 2018

Orchestral sorcery from François-Xavier Roth and the LSO

By Mark Pullinger

Amsterdam

Roth, Pahud and the Gurzenich deliver an evening of high drama in Amsterdam

By Aaron Davies, 11 July 2018

Spanning a compositional date range of approximately 50 years, Francois-Xavier Roth and his well-drilled Gurzenich delivered a highly enjoyable evening of music by Mendelssohn, Mozart and Beethoven.

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Amsterdam

11 Jul 2018

An evening of high drama in Amsterdam

By Aaron Davies

Alert and refined: LSO on top form under François-Xavier Roth

By Chris Garlick, 25 March 2018

Celebrating Debussy on the 100th anniversary of his death, this programme played to the strengths of the LSO under the energetic direction of François-Xavier Roth.

*****

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London

25 Mar 2018

Alert and refined: LSO on top form under François-Xavier Roth

By Chris Garlick

Essential and elusive Debussy from the LSO and François-Xavier Roth

By Roy Westbrook, 25 January 2018

Oh, but the entire London Symphony Orchestra en fête is a dazzling aural spectacle – how on earth did we all remain in our seats when summoned by such Bacchic frenzy?

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London

25 Jan 2018

Essential and elusive Debussy from the LSO

By Roy Westbrook

The Young Debussy: Roth and the LSO open their miniature festival in style

By Mark Valencia, 21 January 2018

Debussy's newly unearthed Première Suite d’orchestre, hitherto unheard in the UK, was presented in the context of music that may have inspired him.

****1

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London

21 Jan 2018

Roth and the LSO open their miniature festival in style

By Mark Valencia

Roth charts the emergence of the modern in Boston

By Kevin Wells, 12 January 2018

Stravinsky's Firebird leads a survey of the musical avant-garde at the outset of the modern era by François-Xavier Roth and the Boston Symphony.

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Boston

12 Jan 2018

Roth charts the emergence of the modern in Boston

By Kevin Wells

Revelatory, period-style Beethoven from François- Xavier Roth and the Boston Symphony

By Kevin Wells, 06 January 2018

Concertgoers defying sub-zero temperatures in Boston were rewarded with one of the fastest Beethoven Fifths anyone in Symphony Hall is likely to hear.

*****

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Boston

06 Jan 2018

Revelatory, period-style Beethoven in Boston

By Kevin Wells

Tripping the light fantastic: a refreshing season opener from the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln

By Hugo Shirley, 03 September 2017

François-Xavier Roth conducts sparkling, refreshing accounts of Debussy, Schumann and Strauss in the Gürzenich-Orchester Köln season-opening gala.

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Cologne

03 Sep 2017

Tripping the light fantastic in Köln

By Hugo Shirley

Prom 42: An exotic banquet to savour from François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles

By Mark Pullinger, 16 August 2017

It was truly magnifique to welcome French period instrument orchestra Les Siècles and François-Xavier Roth to the BBC Proms for a highly perfumed programme of exotic sweetmeats.

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London

16 Aug 2017

An exotic banquet to savour from Les Siècles

By Mark Pullinger

For whom the bell tolls: Saint-Saëns' Le Timbre d'argent chimes again at the Opéra Comique

By Mark Pullinger, 09 June 2017

Palazzetto Bru Zane, spurred on by the zealous advocacy of conductor François-Xavier Roth, has turned to Saint-Saëns' very first opera, Le Timbre d'argent.

***11

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Paris

09 Jun 2017

For whom the bell tolls at the Opéra Comique

By Mark Pullinger

Antoine Tamestit presents first-class Bartók with the LSO

By David Truslove, 23 April 2017

A concert marked by stylish playing that brought fresh colour to Debussy, virtuosity to Bartók and energy to Bruckner.

****1

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London

23 Apr 2017

Tamestit presents first-class Bartók

By David Truslove

François-Xavier Roth and the London Symphony Orchestra on peak form

By David Truslove, 30 March 2017

A generous programme that brought out much felicitous detail from the LSO in Debussy’s Jeux and plenty of sparkle from Simon Trpčeski in Bartók, but it was Mahler that took game, set and match.

****1

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London

30 Mar 2017

Roth and the LSO on peak form

By David Truslove

Awakening of happy feelings on a wintry March afternoon: Beethoven, Berlioz and Pintscher in Boston

By Kevin Wells, 24 March 2017

Roth bookended Matthias Pintscher's new work with familiar pieces, Berlioz’s Le Corsaire Overture and Beethoven’s Symphony no. 6 in F major.

****1

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Boston

24 Mar 2017

Beethoven, Berlioz and Pintscher in Boston

By Kevin Wells

A Berlioz Requiem of scale and sensitivity

By Mark Valencia, 13 November 2016

The silence of the Cenotaph was swept away by the greatest howl of anguish in music.

****1

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London

13 Nov 2016

A Berlioz Requiem of scale and sensitivity

By Mark Valencia

Watch with Mother (Goose): Child’s play with Les Siècles

By Mark Pullinger, 02 November 2016

Games of various types pirouetted in and out of Les Siècles' Gallic programme last night, from Debussy's play of the waves in La Mer to the shenanigans of a distinctly adult game of tennis in his ballet Jeux.

****1

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London

02 Nov 2016

Watch with Mother (Goose): Child’s play with Les Siècles

By Mark Pullinger

Hours of fun: Ravel's two one-act operas in Cologne

By Matthew Rye, 12 October 2016

Cologne Opera's staging of Ravel's two comedies needed a stronger directorial response to the performance space, but the musical rewards compensated.

***11

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Cologne

12 Oct 2016

Hours of fun: Ravel's two one-act operas in Cologne

By Matthew Rye

Ballets Russes sandwich proves tasty fare in Boston

By Kevin Wells, 14 January 2016

Two landmark scores from the repertory of the Ballets Russes sandwiched Thursday night’s concert at Symphony Hall: Debussy’s Jeux and Stravinsky’s Petrushka (in its original 1913 version).

***11

***11

Boston

14 Jan 2016

Ballets Russes sandwich proves tasty fare in Boston

By Kevin Wells

Prom 55: SWR and Roth in a first and final Proms hurrah

By George Slater-Walker, 26 August 2015

For their first and last ever visit to the Proms, the SWR Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden and Freiburg and François-Xavier Roth gave a thrilling concert of 20th-century masterpieces, celebrating a rich history of creative inspiration.

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London

26 Aug 2015

Prom 55: SWR and Roth in a first and final Proms hurrah

By George Slater-Walker

Exacting Boulez overshadows Ravel and Stravinsky with the BBCSO and François-Xavier Roth

By George Slater-Walker, 12 August 2015

The monumental shadow of Pierre Boulez loomed rather too large over Ravel's Left Hand Concerto and the full Firebird in François-Xavier Roth's detailed readings.

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London

12 Aug 2015

Exacting Boulez overshadows Ravel and Stravinsky

By George Slater-Walker

‘The French Beethoven’ unmasked by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

By Mark Pullinger, 22 October 2014

The name George Onslow may conjure up images of whippets, pints and rolling Yorkshire dales, but he was in fact born in Clermont-Ferrand in 1784 and was known as ‘the French Beethoven’.

***11

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London

22 Oct 2014

‘The French Beethoven’ unmasked by the OAE

By Mark Pullinger

Prom 4: From Lully to The Rite of Spring with Les Siècles

By Paul Kilbey, 14 July 2013

The amount of attention Igor Stravinsky’s iconoclastic ballet score The Rite of Spring has received this year – its 100th – has been enormous, perhaps even excessive. Countless important works, after all, routinely have anniversaries to celebrate, and very few are lucky enough to receive much particular attention. On Bachtrack alone, the year has seen nine concert reviews of the Rite so far.

*****

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London

14 Jul 2013

Prom 4: From Lully to The Rite of Spring with Les Siècles

By Paul Kilbey

Cardiff

François-Xavier Roth conducts Zarathustra in Cardiff

By Rohan Shotton, 24 May 2013

François-Xavier Roth conducted the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in a varied programme of Mozart, Webern and Strauss, concluding with a powerful performance of Also Sprach Zarathustra at St David’s Hall in Cardiff.It was hard to spot a linking factor between the programmed works, but they seemed to complement each other nicely.

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Cardiff

24 May 2013

François-Xavier Roth conducts Zarathustra in Cardiff

By Rohan Shotton

LSO Futures Week at the Barbican: Contemporary chamber works

By Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade, 13 April 2013

Celebrating the work of emerging artists and their 20th-century heritage, the LSO Futures concert series came to a spectacular close this weekend at the Barbican. In a two-part programme devised by conductor François-Xavier Roth, chamber and orchestral forces reckoned with the challenges posed to the symphonic tradition.

*****

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London

13 Apr 2013

LSO Futures Week at the Barbican: Contemporary chamber works

By Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade

LSO Futures Week at the Barbican: Symphonic sound worlds

By Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade, 13 April 2013

Following on from the Contemporary Chamber Works concert of the LSO Futures series, François-Xavier Roth was back less than an hour later with the Symphonic Sound Worlds programme. This formed the second part of his investigation into the nature of the orchestra, its traditional forms and generic makeup.

*****

*****

London

13 Apr 2013

LSO Futures Week at the Barbican: Symphonic sound worlds

By Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade

A hip-hop Rite of Spring: 21st-century Stravinsky at La Villette in Paris

By Leopold Tobisch, 06 April 2013

Whilst a celebratory centenary performance of Stravinsky’s masterful The Rite of Spring has already been planned next month on the very evening of the work’s première, another performance of the work has recently captured the imagination of Paris’ music and dance aficionados: Stravinsky en mode hip hop (“Stravinsky, hip-hop style”).

*****

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Paris

06 Apr 2013

A hip-hop Rite of Spring: 21st-century Stravinsky at La Villette in Paris

By Leopold Tobisch

Freiburg

Haas and Beethoven meet a Poetry Slam champion in Freiburg

By Nicholas Reed, 27 January 2013

The idea of inviting a Poetry Slam champion to moderate a young person’s symphony orchestra concert was an intriguing one, and had plenty of scope to be a fascinating marriage between punk-inspired verse and classical music.

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**111

Freiburg

27 Jan 2013

Haas and Beethoven meet a Poetry Slam champion in Freiburg

By Nicholas Reed

Freiburg

A thrilling ride in Freiburg with the SWR Sinfonieorchester, Tilling and Roth

By Nicholas Reed, 06 November 2012

Can two composers have so much, yet so little in common? Or be such accommodating, yet such uncomfortable bedfellows? The SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg with their principal conductor François-Xavier Roth addressed these questions in exhilarating style, in a “turn-of-the-century time capsule” which thrilled and enchanted upon its opening.

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Freiburg

06 Nov 2012

A thrilling ride in Freiburg with the SWR Sinfonieorchester, Tilling and Roth

By Nicholas Reed

Prom 17: Boulez's Le marteau sans maître

By Paul Kilbey, 26 July 2012

Unlike the rest of of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra's Proms thus far, this concert was not a sandwich. It was more of a chocolate cupcake, with a creamy topping of Beethoven and a strong, substantial body made of Boulez. Not one for the dieters, but a wonderful late-night snack before the next day's roast dinner of Beethoven 9.

****1

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London

26 Jul 2012

Prom 17: Boulez's Le marteau sans maître

By Paul Kilbey

Cardiff

BBC National Orchestra of Wales: Stravinsky, Beethoven, Bartók

By Verity Quaite, 04 April 2012

The announcement by the presenter that Stravinsky did not intend Symphonies of Wind Instruments to please the audience or arouse their passions was greeted with titters of laughter. An overheard conversation during the interval signalled that the number of late arrivals to the concert was suspected to be ‘because they didn’t want to sit through the Stravinsky’.

****1

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Cardiff

04 Apr 2012

BBC National Orchestra of Wales: Stravinsky, Beethoven, Bartók

By Verity Quaite

Rotterdam

Stravinsky and Shostakovich from the Rotterdam Philharmonic

By Renée Reitsma, 27 January 2012

Stravinsky’s Scherzo Fantastique, Op. 3 is one of his earliest works, as its opus number would suggest. There are very few composers who can truly create a fairytale atmosphere in their music, but Stravinsky was one of the best at it.

Rotterdam

27 Jan 2012

Stravinsky and Shostakovich from the Rotterdam Philharmonic

By Renée Reitsma

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Les Siècles expédient Le Chant de la Terre au Théâtre des Champs-Élysées

By Erwan Gentric, 25 March 2024

Malgré un excellent Andrew Staples, l'orchestre historiquement informé et son chef fondateur François-Xavier Roth ont proposé une lecture bien peu inspirée du chef-d'œuvre de Gustav Mahler.

**111

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**111

Paris

25 Mar 2024

Les Siècles expédient Le Chant de la Terre au TCE

By Erwan Gentric

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Feu nourri à la Philharmonie : Die Soldaten par François-Xavier Roth et Calixto Bieito

By Pierre Liscia-Beaurenaut, 28 January 2024

Événement à la Philharmonie avec la représentation du rare opéra de Bernd Alois Zimmermann, dans une mise en espace limitée de Calixto Bieito mais avec un plateau exceptionnel.

****1

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Paris

28 Jan 2024

Feu nourri à la Philharmonie : Die Soldaten par Roth et Bieito

By Pierre Liscia-Beaurenaut

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Un Grand Macabre tiré à quatre épingles conclut le centenaire Ligeti à Radio France

By Pierre Liscia-Beaurenaut, 02 December 2023

Sous la direction précise et dynamique de François-Xavier Roth, l'unique opéra du compositeur hongrois, proposé dans une nouvelle version française, est servi par une distribution excellente.

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Paris

02 Dec 2023

À Radio France, un Grand Macabre tiré à quatre épingles

By Pierre Liscia-Beaurenaut

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Ligeti vs Mozart : l’étrange concert à deux visages des Siècles à Radio France

By Tristan Labouret, 28 November 2023

Retour sur le troisième volet de l'hommage à György Ligeti organisé par Radio France avec François-Xavier Roth. Jean-Frédéric Neuburger et Isabelle Faust étaient invités et ont répondu présent avec classe.

***11

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***11

Paris

28 Nov 2023

Ligeti vs Mozart : l’étrange concert à deux visages des Siècles

By Tristan Labouret

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