Jordi Savall, conductor and viola da gamba
Montserrat Figueras, soprano
In Antiquity, the name Hesperia – from the Greek word hespera, meaning west – was used in reference to the Iberian and Italic Peninsulas, situated on Europe’s extreme west. Inspired by the immense richness of the European Italic-Iberian musical repertoire prior to the year 1800, and paying tribute to this region of such unique lights and colours, the Catalan Jordi Savall (bass viola and conductor), Montserrat Figueras (soprano), Lorenzo Alpert (woodwinds and percussion) and Hopkinson Smith (strings) founded the instrumental group Hespèrion XX in 1974. The group’s vocation remains the same: to research ancient music, especially of Italian and Iberian origins, to rediscover its greatest composers and to find the best and most refined interpretation in ancient instruments, to a listening which has nowadays found its place. Acclaimed in the best concert halls in the world, frequently invited to the most important international music festivals and unanimously acclaimed by the critics, Jordi Savall and its interpreters have renamed the group Hespèrion XXI since the year 2000.
For the last 34 years, Savall – one of the most extraordinary musical personalities in his generation –, Montserrat Figueras – soprano of reference in her repertoire – and the other musicians at Hespèrion have been showing definitive interpretations of the wonderful heritage of ancient musical literature that they have chosen to perform. Always sparkled with freshness and new elements, their interpretations have shown to be insuperable.
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