A stunning Barbican debut by Les Siècles

François-Xavier Roth conducts Les Siècles

François-Xavier Roth conducts the London Symphony Chorus and Les Siècles

Simon Halsey and François-Xavier Roth

By Roy Westbrook, 21 June 2023

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“Ralincourt’s long and tricky solo in Part 3 as eloquent as one can ever hope to hear it”

Reviewed at Barbican Hall, London on 20 June 2023

Debussy, Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune

Weber, Invitation to the Dance, Op.65 (orch. Hector Berlioz)

Boulanger, D'un soir triste

Ravel, Daphnis et Chloé

Les Siècles

François-Xavier Roth, Conductor

London Symphony Chorus

Simon Halsey, Choirmaster / chorus director

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

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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Roy Westbrook

Roy Westbrook gained a diploma in music history at London University (Morley College) and was for some years the head of music day schools at Oxford University, where he also led music summer schools. After some years leading the University's business school he has returned to music teaching and writing, and recently took part in the Arts in Residence courses on Bruckner, Mahler and Bach He is co-author (with Terry Barfoot) of a history of opera, and has taught day schools on Sibelius in Oxford and elsewhere.