Jordi Savall
Jordi Savall, born in 1941 in Barcelona, embodies the spirit of the rich Catalan culture in which he was raised. Inspired by another great Catalan artist, Pablo Casals, whom he heard perform at Prades, the young Jordi Savall realized that music could be more than just a profession – for him, it would become an all-consuming life's work. He completed his cello studies at the Barcelona Conservatory in 1965, and, seeking to broaden his musical horizons, took an interest in early music.
After determining that his new-found interest could not be well served by the modern cello, he discovered the viola da gamba and the performance practices of an earlier period. Jordi Savall went on to study in Brussels and later attended the Schola Cantorum of Basel, where he studied with August Wenzinger. In 1974, he succeeded Wenzinger in the position of Professor of Viol and Ensemble at the Schola Cantorum. Jordi Savall is widely credited with the rebirth of the viola da gamba and his ongoing musicological research has made him a major force in the revival of early music.
In 1974, Jordi Savall and his wife, soprano Montserrat Figueras, founded the ensemble Hespèrion XXI. Upon his return to Barcelona in 1987, Savall founded La Capella Reial de Catalunya, a vocal and instrumental group dedicated to the performance of Mediterranean, especially Hispanic, music. In 1989, Savall created Le Concert des Nations, dedicated to the presentation of French music – or, more precisely, music in the "French manner" – at its zenith in the Baroque period.
Increasingly active as a conductor, Jordi Savall has directed original instrument performances of J.S. Bach"s B-Minor Mass, Christmas Oratorio, and Art of the Fugue; Monteveredi"s Vespro della Beata Vergine; and the Missa de Batalla and Missa de Requiem of Cererols. Savall has more than eighty recordings to his credit, including several important series of French, English, Spanish, Italian, and German music. In 1988 he was decorated as an "Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" by the French Minister of Culture.
In 1992, Savall directed and interpreted music for the soundtrack of Tous les matins du monde, the phenomenally successful film starring Girard Depardieu, which celebrates the life and works of Marin Marais. The movie and music, all performed by Savall, have been the impetus for a French Baroque craze encompassing all of Europe. The soundtrack has sold 67,000 copies in the United States alone and over 500,000 worldwide, a sales mark which only a handful of classical recording ever reach.
