François-Xavier Roth Explained

François-Xavier Roth
Image Upright:1.25
Birth Date:6 November 1971
Birth Place:Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Organization:
Parents:Daniel Roth

François-Xavier Paul Roth (born 6 November 1971) is a French conductor.

Biography

Roth is the son of the organist Daniel Roth—the two share the same first name. His brother Vincent is a violist.[1] Before turning to conducting, he was a flautist.[2] Roth graduated from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique, where his teachers included Alain Marion for flute and János Fürst for conducting.[3]

In 2000, Roth won the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition, which led to a 2-year appointment as Assistant Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. He has also served as an assistant conductor to John Eliot Gardiner.[4] In 2003, he founded Les Siècles, an orchestra which performs on instruments appropriate to the period of composition of each piece, from late Baroque and Classical to 20th century music, such as Ravel.[3] With Les Siècles, he has given concerts in France, Italy, Germany, England and Japan, appearing at the Proms in London. To mark the centenary of The Rite of Spring in 2013, the orchestra performed the work on period instruments at the BBC Proms and the Alte Oper, Frankfurt. Roth and Les Siècles have devised their own television series for France 2 entitled Presto!, which ran for three years and attracted audiences of over three million viewers.[3] Roth has involved Les Siècles in community music initiatives, including sponsorship of orchestra and choir groups in the Société générale.[3] With Les Siècles, Roth conducted the first revival of 100 years of Le Timbre d'argent.

Roth was Associate Guest Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales from 2008 to 2012. He was Music Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège (OPL) for the 2009–2010 season.[5] In September 2011, Roth became Principal Conductor of the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg. In February 2014, the orchestra announced the extension of Roth's SWR orchestra contract through the 2015–2016 season.[6] In the same month, February 2014, the city of Cologne announced the appointment of Roth as its next Generalmusikdirektor (GMD), which includes duties as Gürzenich-Kapellmeister and chief conductor of the Cologne Opera, effective 1 September 2015, with an initial contract of 5 years.[7] [8] [9] In October 2018, his contract with the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne and the Cologne Opera was extended to 2022.[10]

Roth was the last chief conductor of the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, before its merger with the SWR Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart to form the SWR Symphonieorchester. He conducted the final concert of the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg on 17 July 2016 in Freiburg.[11] [12] In March 2017, the London Symphony Orchestra announced the appointment of Roth as its new principal guest conductor, effective September 2017.[13]

In July 2020, Roth first guest-conducted the SWR Symphonieorchester. He returned to the orchestra for a subsequent guest-conducting engagement in June 2021. In September 2022, the SWR announced the appointment of Roth as the next chief conductor of the SWR Symphonieorchester, effective with the 2025-2026 season, with an initial contract of 5 years.[14] In parallel with this announcement, the city of Cologne, also in September 2022, announced that Roth is to stand down as Gürzenich-Kapellmeister and chief conductor of the Cologne Opera at the close of the 2024-2025 season.[15]

In May 2024, allegations of sexting and sexual harassment of musicians were made against Roth. The French magazine Le Canard enchaîné[16] and the German online magazine VAN[17] were the first to report on the allegations. Roth was replaced as conductor of a concert that evening by Les Siècles at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées. In July 2024, the city of Cologne announced the close of Roth's tenure as Gürzenich-Kapellmeister and chief conductor of the Cologne Opera with immediate effect, one season earlier than the previously scheduled tenure conclusion, in light of these allegations.[18]

Roth's son Félix Roth is a musician and French horn player.[1] Roth was created a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur in the Bastille Day Honours List 2017. In January 2018, Roth was nominated "Artiste associé" at the Philharmonie de Paris, which is also linked to his work with the children's orchestra Démos, an initiative based on the model of El Sistema.[3]

Selected discography

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: La Bernerie-en-Retz. Famille Roth: la musique dans le sang . Ouest-France . 2019-07-31 . 2020-06-04.
  2. News: Warum der neue SWR-Chefdirigent François-Xavier Roth Freiburg liebt . Badische Zeitung . Alexander Dick . 4 May 2010 . 18 December 2010.
  3. Vincent Agrech. Rencontre: François-Xavier Roth – pour les siècles des siècles. Diapason No. 674 décembre 2018, 26–30
  4. News: Der künftige Chefdirigent beim SWR steht offenbar fest . Badische Zeitung . Alexander Dick . 8 April 2010 . 23 December 2010.
  5. News: Le chef français Roth quitte l'Orchestre de Liège . Le Soir . 2 April 2010 . 18 December 2010.
  6. François-Xavier Roth verlängert Vertrag . SWR . 14 February 2014 . 12 April 2014 . 2 July 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140702203802/http://www.swr.de/unternehmen/zukunft/orchester-zukunft/pressemitteilung-vom-14-francois-xavier-roth-verlaengert-vertrag/-/id=13151458/did=12877098/nid=13151458/1yn00xp/index.html . dead .
  7. François-Xavier Roth wird Generalmusikdirektor in Köln . Stadt Köln . 14 February 2014 . 16 February 2014.
  8. News: Roth wird Nachfolger von Stenz . Kölner Stadt-Unzeiger . 14 February 2014 . 16 February 2014.
  9. News: Axel Hill . Roth wird Generalmusikdirektor in Köln . Kölnische Rundschau . 14 February 2014 . 14 February 2014 . 24 September 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150924124151/http://www.rundschau-online.de/kultur/dirigent-roth-wird-generalmusikdirektor-in-koeln,15184894,26195272.html . dead .
  10. News: Hartmut Wilmes . François-Xavier Roth bleibt bis 2022 in Köln . General-Anzeiger Bonn . 13 October 2018 . 10 June 2019.
  11. News: Fusion der SWR-Orchester beschlossen: Rundfunkrat stimmte mit großer Mehrheit für die Vorlage des SWR . Südwestrundfunk . 28 September 2012 . 12 April 2014 . 5 January 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140105131944/https://www.swr.de/orchester-und-ensembles/so/fusion-swr-orchester-beschlossen/-/id=788382/nid=788382/did=10375432/1sd2kji/index.html . dead .
  12. News: Mit dieser Fusion hat man es geschafft, ein Musik-Welterbe zu schleifen . Badische Zeitung . Alexander Dick . 2016-07-22 . 2016-07-21.
  13. London Symphony Orchestra announces François-Xavier Roth as Principal Guest Conductor . London Symphony Orchestra . 7 March 2017 . 2017-03-13.
  14. François-Xavier Roth wird Chefdirigent des SWR Symphonieorchesters ab 2025 . SWR . 30 September 2022 . 2022-10-03.
  15. Vertrag des Generalmusikdirektors läuft 2025 aus . Stadt Köln . 29 September 2022 . 2022-10-03.
  16. News: François-Xavier Roth épinglé par le Canard enchaîné pour des messages à caractère sexuel . France Musique . Flore Caron . 2024-05-23 . 2024-07-08.
  17. Web site: Welscher . Jeffrey Arlo Brown, Merle Krafeld, Hartmut . 2024-05-22 . Vorwürfe der sexuellen Belästigung gegen François-Xavier Roth . 2024-05-23 . VAN Magazin . de-DE.
  18. Web site: Stadt Köln und Dirigent Roth beenden Zusammenarbeit . NMZ . 2024-07-06 . 2024-07-08.
  19. Web site: Igor Strawinsky: Le Sacre du Printemps, Petrouchka.. Alm. www.schallplattenkritik.de. de-de. 2017-09-06.