François-Xavier Roth

Conductor François-Xavier Roth is among the most versatile and prolific conductors in 21st century France, active in both modern-instrument and historically-oriented performances. Roth is the director of the period-instrument orchestra Les Siècles, which offers historically authentic performances of music from the 17th to the 20th century. Roth made his recording debut in 2005 with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg on a recording of music by Jean-Louis Agobet. In 2014, he was named Generalmusikdirektor of the city of Cologne, which entailed conductorships of the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne and the Cologne Opera. Roth also became the principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra in 2017. Roth's recording catalog is large and covers the various ensembles with which he has been associated. Roth remained extremely active, releasing a total of 18 albums between 2020 and 2023. These included a period-instrument recording of Ravel's Boléro and L'heure espagnole.