Mixed performances in Ligeti and Mozart from Les Siècles

François-Xavier Roth

Isabelle Faust and Les Siècles

François-Xavier Roth, Alexander Melnikov and Les Siècles

By David Truslove, 22 August 2023

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“its festive element underlined in black marker pen with silky strings and tangy woodwinds”

Reviewed at Royal Albert Hall, London on 20 August 2023

Ligeti, Concert Românesc

Ligeti, Violin Concerto

Kurtág, Doloroso

Mozart, Piano Concerto no. 23 in A major, K488

Mozart, Symphony no. 41 in C major, "Jupiter”, K551

Isabelle Faust, Violin

Alexander Melnikov, Fortepiano

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

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

An exotic banquet to savour from Les Siècles

Mark Pullinger, 16th August

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.

*****

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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David Truslove

After many years as a musician – conducting choirs, singing as a lay clerk at Winchester Cathedral and an involvement in education, David now writes programme notes, occasionally composes and enjoys a busy schedule of reviewing.

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