An exotic banquet to savour from Les Siècles

By Mark Pullinger, 17 August 2017

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“a veritable travelogue for the musical gourmet, performed with Gallic panache”

Reviewed at Royal Albert Hall, London on 16 August 2017

Saint-Saëns, La Princesse jaune (overture)

Delibes, Lakmé (ballet music)

Saint-Saëns, Piano Concerto no. 5 in F major, "Egyptian," Op.103

Debussy, Préludes, Bk 2 no. 3: La Puerta del Vino

Franck, Les Djinns

Lalo, Namouna, Suite no. 1 (excerpts)

Lalo, Namouna, Suite no. 2 (excerpts)

Saint-Saëns, Samson et Dalila: Bacchanale

Williams, Get Lucky

Cédric Tiberghien, Piano

Les Siècles

François-Xavier Roth, Conductor

Christof Loy’s understated Werther at the TCE

David Karlin, 22nd March

Massenet’s take on Goethe’s blockbuster novella of unrequited love and suicide is handled with great subtlety by Christof Loy and Marc Leroy-Calatayud. Benjamin Bernheim and Marina Viotti lead a starry vocal cast.

****1

Shimmering, disjointed: Poppe and Ligeti in Lucerne

Elodie Olson-Coons, 7th September

Les Siècles make their Lucerne Festival debut with a slightly uneven Poppe-Ligeti programme, at the heart of which Isabelle Faust nevertheless shines

***11

Mixed performances in Ligeti and Mozart from Les Siècles

David Truslove, 20th August

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

***11

A stunning Barbican debut by Les Siècles

Roy Westbrook, 20th June

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

*****

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

David Smythe, 16th August

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

For whom the bell tolls at the Opéra Comique

Mark Pullinger, 9th June

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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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.

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