From 1989 to 1998, Bychkov was music director of the Orchestre de Paris. He became Principal Guest Conductor of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra in 1990, Principal Guest Conductor of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in 1992, Chief Conductor of Dresden's Semperoper in 1998 and chief conductor of the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne in 1997. He remained in Cologne until 2010, during which time he made a series of recordings including Brahms' Symphonies No. 1–4, Shostakovich's Symphonies Nos. 4, 7, 8, 10 and 11, Mahler's Symphony No. 3, Rachmaninov's "The Bells" and "Symphonic Dances", Richard Strauss' "Ein Heldenleben" and "Eine Alpensinfonie", Verdi's Requiem, as well as Strauss' "Elektra", "Daphne" and Wagner's "Lohengrin" which won BBC Music Magazine's Record of the Year 2010.