Presto Recording of the Week
17th November 2023

BBC Music Magazine
Christmas Issue 2023
Orchestral Choice

Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth

Saint-Saëns: Phaéton, Op. 39
Saint-Saëns: La jeunesse d'Hercule, Op. 50
Saint-Saëns: Le Rouet d'Omphale, Op. 31
Saint-Saëns: Danse macabre, Op. 40
Saint-Saëns: Samson et Dalila, Op. 47: Bacchanale
Saint-Saëns: Le carnaval des animaux
Saint-Saëns: L'assassinat Du Duc De Guise, Op.128

François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles offer us a double-sided portrait of Saint-Saëns here.

On one side, some of the most fascinating symphonic poems of French Romanticism are revealed in all the shimmering timbres of the period.

On the other, we rediscover a composer who enjoyed a good laugh (The Carnival of the Animals also returns to its original colours) when he was not involved in the early days of the cinema, with the very first music ever composed for a film.

"One of his many virtues is that he’s not afraid of making his orchestra play very, very quietly; another is that, where a composer has not noted dynamics, Roth feels free to invent them, and does so with finesse." - BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2023.