Hespèrion XXI Friday, May 14, 2004, 8 Pm First Congregational Church
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CAL PERFORMANCES PRESENTS Jordi Savall, Montserrat Figueras, Arianna Savall, Ferran Savall, and Pedro Estevan Hespèrion XXI Friday, May 14, 2004, 8 pm First Congregational Church Montserrat Figueras, voice Arianna Savall, voice and arpa doppia Ferran Savall, voice, guitar, and tiorba Jordi Savall, viola da gamba Pedro Estevan, percussion This performance has been made possible, in part, by members of the Cal Performances Producers Circle. Cal Performances thanks the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The Wallace Foundation, and the Zellerbach Family Foundation for their generous support. C AL PERFORMANCES 1 PROGRAM ABOUT THE ARTISTS Folias & Romanescas Hespèrion XXI Músicas del tiempo & del instante In the ancient past, Hesperia was the name given to the two most western peninsulas in Europe: the Italian and the The Ancient Hesperia & the Diaspora Sefardí Iberian peninsulas (in Greek Anon. Trecento mss. Lamento de Tristano “Hesperio” meant “from one El Misteri d’Elx Ay, trista vida corporal! (Lament de la Verge) of these two peninsulas”). Sefardi (Sarajevo) Paxarico tu te llamas (instr.) Hesperio was also the name Sefardi (Turquia) La dama y el pastor given to the planet Venus (Por allí pasó un cavallero) (Romance) when it appeared in the west at night. Folias & Romanescas United in a common Diego Ortiz La Spagna – Passamezzo antico Romanesca – aim—the study and the inter- Passamezzo moderno pretation of ancient music based on new and up-to-date premises—and fascinated by Poetry & Music the immense richness of the Arianna Savall [Cantar de los Cantares] Yo soy de mi amado Hispanic and European musi- Santiago de Murcia/Improvisation Jota (arpa) cal repertoire earlier than Arianna Savall [Miquel Martí i Pol] L’Amor 1800, Jordi Savall, Montserrat Figueras, Lorenzo Alpert Ostinato Improvisations (wind and percussion instru- Improvisation Canarios ments), and Hopkinson Antonio Valente Gallarda napolitana Smith (plucked instruments) Tarquinio Merula Aria sopra la ciaconna created Hespèrion XX in 1974, dedicating themselves to the interpretation and re- INTERMISSION evaluation of certain essential Jordi and Arianna Savall aspects of this repertoire. For more than 25 years, Hespèrion has two dozen original CDs and re-releases by Pieces de Viole remained faithful to this initial goal and has Hespèrion XXI, Jordi Savall, Montserrat Marin Marais Les Voix Humaines - Muzettes performed and recorded numerous hitherto Figueras, La Capella Reial, and Le Concert des unknown works, many of which are heard on Nations. Two of the latest releases—Diàspora Del tiempo y del instante over 30 recordings for EMI, Astrée, Sefardí and El Cancionero de Montecassino— Traditional Catalonian La Cançó del Lladre DG–Archiv, Philips, Fontalis, and Aliavox. were nominated for Grammy Awards in 2001 Ferran Savall Improvisation The spirit characterized by Hespèrion XXI and 2002. is the eclectic way in which the musicians have made artistic choices. This has allowed Jordi Savall (viola da gamba) is unanimously La Folia Hespèrion to interpret a number of important acclaimed as one of today’s foremost inter- Antonio Martin y Coll Diferencias sobre las Folias Spanish medieval pieces as well as English preters of early music. Among the most gifted Renaissance, Baroque, and consort music pieces musicians of his generation, he is a violist, Lamenti & Canzonette by composers including Dowland, Tye, and music director, and the creator of an unmis- Traditional El Testament d’Amèlia Coprario. Hespèrion has also explored other takable style, and his activities as a concert Merula Sentirete una canzonetta European repertories, including a great deal of performer, teacher, and researcher make him unknown work, and has contributed to the pop- one of the chief architects of the currently ularity of composers such as Jenkins, Rosen- ongoing revaluation of historic music. The muller, and Scheidt, along with other well- pivotal part he played in Alain Corneau’s known composers, such as Bach and Purcell. award-winning film Tous les Matins du Monde In 1998, Jordi Savall created a new record has proved that early music does not have to label—Aliavox—which has since released over be elitist or of interest to only a minority, and, 2 CAL PERFORMANCES C AL PERFORMANCES 3 ABOUT THE ARTISTS ABOUT THE ARTISTS indeed, that it can—and does—appeal to an During her time in Switzerland, where she in 1996, and that of voice in 2000. In 1992, de Musica de Catalunya with Xavier Diaz. increasingly young and wide audience. lived until 1986, Montserrat Figueras, togeth- she began studies in historical performance Savall has participated in a variety of Jordi Savall’s aim in creating the ensembles er with Jordi Savall, Hopkinson Smith, with Rolf Lislevand at the Conservatory of festivals and is a member of the quartet Hespèrion XXI (1974), La Capella Reial de Lorenzo Alpert, and other musicians who Toulouse (France), and took several courses Assuranceturix. He participates regularly in Catalunya (1987), and Le Concert des shared similar research interests, founded under Andrew Lawrence-King and Hopkin- jam sessions at a variety of jazz clubs in Nations (1989) has been to increase the pub- Hespèrion XX (now Hespèrion XXI), an son Smith, as well as her parents. Barcelona. These concerts mark his first per- lic’s knowledge of a repertoire spanning from ensemble that seeks to breathe new life and Since 1997, Savall has appeared in concert formances in North America. the Middle Ages to the beginning of the 19th freshness into a wide range of music. Side by and on recordings with Hespèrion XXI, La century, driven by a new concept of perform- side with Jordi Savall, Figueras was also a co- Capella Reial de Catalunya, Malapunica, and Pedro Estevan (percussion) has performed as ance characterized by great musical verve com- founder of La Capella Reial. Actively partici- Ricercare Consort, as well as other early music percussionist with Hespèrion XXI since 1985. bined with rigorous historical accuracy. pating in all their major projects, she regularly groups, performing throughout Europe, the He studied percussion at the Conservatoire Savall’s extraordinary concert activity appears as a soloist with both these ensembles. United States, South America, Australia, New Superieur de Musique de Madrid and con- regularly takes him to the major early music A constant in Figueras’ choice of reper- Zealand, and Israel. temporary percussion with Silvio Gualda, festivals around the world (in Europe, the toire is her preference for works in which Savall made her opera debut in the role of African percussion with Senegalese master United States, Latin America, the Middle music and text combine to create a poetic Euridice in Monteverdi’s Orfeo at the Festival Doudou Ndiaye Rose, and hand drum tech- East, the Far East, Australia, and New space in which she is able to explore and enact de Musique Ancienne in Beaune (July 2000), nique with Glen Velez. An eclectic musician, Zealand). He has recorded over 100 albums, the spiritual dimension of the music. True to in Metz (January 2001), and at the Gran Estevan has a particular interest in early music, and in 1998, he created his own recording her Mediterranean roots, Figueras gives pride Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona in February which he performs with Hespèrion XXI, Le label, Aliavox. of place in her repertoire to music of Latin 2002. Also in 2002, she sang the role of Concert des Nations, Speculum, and in duo Throughout his more than 30 years of origin, from the medieval trobairitz (female Carilda in Handel’s Arianna at the “Scala” the- concerts with Jordi Savall. He also performs intense musical activity, Savall has received troubadour) songs and the various manifesta- ater in Basel. In February 2001, she sang in new music with Rarafonia and as soloist with numerous awards and distinctions, most tions of the Song of the Sibyl to Spanish and Barcelona and at the Konzerthaus in Vienna, Orquesta de Camara Nacional de Espana and notably the Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Italian music of the Renaissance and Baroque in the Spanish opera Celos aún del ayre matan the Orquesta Reina Sofia. Estevan is a found- Lettres from the French Ministry of Culture periods. She has also performed in various by Calderón de la Barca and Juan Hidalgo. In ing member of L’Orchestre de las Nubes and and Communication (1988); the Sant Jordi operas by Peri, Monteverdi, Hidalgo, and the summer of 2001, Savall offered a recital of has collaborated with many orchestras Cross of the Generalitat (Autonomous Martín y Soler. her songs at the Festival de Música Viva in throughout Spain as well as the Paul Winter Government) of Catalonia (1990); the Gold Figueras has recorded over 50 CDs, the Vic, recorded by Catalan television. Consort, Camerata Iberia, the Harp Consort, Medal for Fine Arts from the Spanish Ministry majority of which have won critical acclaim. Baroque de Limoges, and many other music of Culture and the Arts (1999); Honorary She has given numerous concerts—both as a Ferran Savall (voice, guitar, and tiorba) began ensembles. Member of the Konzerthaus, Vienna (1999); soloist and together with Hespèrion XXI and his musical studies on piano and violin at age Doctor honoris causa of the Catholic Uni- La Capella Reial de Catalunya—in Europe, seven and soon followed with voice, guitar, versity of Louvain, Belgium (2001); the Gold the United States, Canada, South America, and theorbo. At age 15, he began more seri- Hespèrion XXI and Jordi Savall record exclu- Medal of the Parliament of Catalonia (2003); Israel, Japan, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, ous studies of guitar at the L’Ecole Luthier sively for Aliavox, which is distributed in the and the German “Preise der deutschen Australia, and New Zealand. with professor Xavier Coll, while at the same United States by Harmonia Mundi. Schallplattenkritik” (2003). In 2003, Montserrat Figueras was honored time working with lutenist Rolf Lislevand, by the French Ministry of Culture and with whom he still studies today.