Les Siècles
Les Siècles is a historical performance ensemble that uses appropriate instruments to realize works of various eras, often employing instruments from the group's own collection. Unusually, Les Siècles apply historical performance principles to music as far forward in time as the early 20th century.
Les Siècles ("The Centuries") was founded in 2003 by conductor François-Xavier Roth. The group succeeded quickly, partly by dispersing its performances among venues around France. It performs regularly at multiple Paris venues, including the Opéra Comique, Salle Pleyel, and Philharmonie de Paris, and in other cities around France as well as touring internationally. Les Siècles have appeared in Amsterdam (at the Concertgebouw), London (at the BBC Proms), and other European capitals as well as in Tokyo. The group also performs frequently in schools, hospitals, and prisons. Les Siècles gives performances of music from various eras, but they are notable for extending the realm of historically oriented performance into the repertory of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 2013, at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, the group participated in a 100th-anniversary re-creation of the original performance of Stravinsky's Le sacre du printemps, using only instruments that would have been available in Paris in 1913; the performance was broadcast internationally.
Les Siècles have amassed a catalog of some 20 recordings, beginning with an album devoted to Saint-Saëns' Symphony No. 3 in C minor, Op. 78 ("Organ Symphony") and Piano Concerto No. 4 in C minor, Op. 44. That and the group's other early recordings were made for the Actes Sud label. Les Siècles moved to the Harmonia Mundi label in 2017 for a recording of Ravel's complete Daphnis et Chloé ballet and has continued to record for that label. The year 2020 saw three new Les Siècles recordings, including one of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, with François-Joseph Gossec's rare Symphonie à dix-sept parties. Les Siècles returned in 2021 with a new recording of Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, Op. 55; both recordings were part of a Harmonia Mundi cycle of historically oriented Beethoven symphonies, featuring various ensembles.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Beethoven: Symphony No. 5 - Gossec: Symphonie à dix-sept parties
Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 4 Sep 2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 - Méhul: Les Amazones: Overture
François-Xavier Roth, Les Siècles
Symphonies - Released by harmonia mundi on 23 Apr 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Concerto No. 23 in A, K. 488: II. Adagio (Air France TV Ad) - Single (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
Classical - Released by InFiné on 16 Sep 2011
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns : Le Timbre d'argent
Les Siècles, Accentus, François-Xavier Roth
Classical - Released by Bru Zane on 28 Aug 2020
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
La passante du Sans-Souci
Renaud Capuçon, Les Siècles, Duncan Ward
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 2 Feb 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Stravinsky: L'Oiseau de feu
Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
Classical - Released by Actes Sud Musicales on 6 Sep 2011
Gramophone Editor's Choice16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
France - Espagne (Chabrier, Massenet, Ravel, Debussy)
Jules Massenet, Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
Classical - Released by Actes Sud Musicales on 7 Apr 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Les Siècles Play Bizet and Chabrier (Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth)
Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
Classical - Released by Mirare on 27 Sep 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Windmills of Your Mind (From "The Thomas Crown Affair")
Renaud Capuçon, Les Siècles, Duncan Ward
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 19 Jan 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Memories of Me
Renaud Capuçon, Les Siècles, Duncan Ward
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 15 Dec 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Dukas : Velléda - Polyeucte - L’Apprenti sorcier
Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth
Classical - Released by Actes Sud Musicales on 18 Nov 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Thème de l’absence (From "Joyeux Noël")
Renaud Capuçon, Les Siècles, Duncan Ward
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 5 Jan 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Franz Liszt : Dante Symphonie & Orpheus
Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth, Maîtrise de Caen
Symphonic Poems - Released by Actes Sud Musicales on 11 Sep 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rite of Peace - Symphonie concertante pour violoncelle et orchestre
Les Siècles, Aurélien Azan Zielinski, Xavier Phillips
Classical - Released by Klarthe Records on 21 Jan 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Matalon : Trames 2, 4, 8
Les Siècles, François-Xavier Roth, Florence Cioccolani, Maude Gratton, Eriko Minami
Classical - Released by Actes Sud Musicales on 5 Apr 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo