Recognized in Europe as an historical musical event of universal proportions, Jerusalem, Ville des deux paix, by Jordi Savall, will hold its North American premiere at Montreal’s Salle Wilfrid-Pelltier of Place des Arts on Thursday, April 29.

Jordi Savall offers an exceptional musical voyage in which music becomes the essential leading force to a veritable intercultural dialogue between men of different nations and religions whose common language is music, spirituality and beauty.

Jerusalem - a city of positive or negative energy, whose historical transformation is presented by Jordi Savall, Montserrat Figueras and their musicians, through an anthology of texts and music as interpreted by its various protagonists: Jewish, Arabic and Christian lyrics from the past and present day where Jerusalem is presented as the core of a city that hopes to reunite the two faces of peace for which it is known.

It was important to present a significant selection of various types of music of the different peoples who, throughout the long history of Jerusalem, have inhabited the city with their dreams and their tragedies, their hopes and misfortunes. To achieve this project, Jordi Savall brought together a group of musicians with diverse traditions from the major countries and cultures that played a significant role in past and current events. In addition to the usual musicians from Spain, France, England, Belgium and Crete who make up the vocal and instrumental soloists of Hespèrion XXI and La Capella Reial de Catalunya, are added Jewish and Palestinian singers and instrumentalists from Israel, Iraq, Armenia, Turkey, Morocco and Syria, trained and specialized in very ancient musical cultures that are often transmitted by oral tradition.

Jordi Savall mentions that from the thousands of different periods of Jerusalem’s rich history, he selected those that appeared to be the most significant, illustrated through songs, music and essential texts. As they come together, they form a multicultural mural that portrays even more than a simple recording or concert ever could.

Music provides an emotional and enlightened insight into the legends, beliefs and events that represent life, culture and spirituality in conjunction with the modern world. Significantly influenced by the historical presence of the principal monotheistic religions: Jewish, Christian and Muslim, the history and music of Jerusalem reflect a unique life experience in which the most extreme of wars and conflicts accompany the most eloquent and spiritual facts and gestures in the entire history of humanity.
 
Jordi Savall

Jordi Savall has a singular place in today’s musical world. For more than thirty years, he has brought to the world musical masterpieces lost to obscurity and indifference: day after day, he reads them, studies them and plays them on his viola da gamba or through his interpretations as conductor of the orchestra. Along with the three musical groups founded together with Montserrat Figueras: Hespèrion, La Capella Reial de Catalunya and Le Concert des Nations, the two musicians create a universe filled with emotion and beauty for all those with a passion for music. The entire world salutes them for coming to the defence of obscure and forgotten musical genres through their concerts and phonographic recordings.

Jordi Savall is one of the most versatile musical personalities of his generation. Performer, pedagogue, researcher and creator of new musical and cultural projects, he is one of the most essential players in the current renaissance of the historical music scene. His interests have long since developed beyond the confines of European medieval and baroque music to the captivating link between Eastern and Western civilizations.

During the course of his career, he has recorded more than 160 CDs. Some of the many awards he has received include: Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters (1988); la Creu de Sant Jordi (1990); Musician of the Year at the Monde de la Musique (1992) and Soloist of the Year at Victoires de la Musique (1993); Medaille d’Or des Beaux Arts (1998); Honorable Member of the Vienna Konzerthaus (1999), Doctor Honoris Causa of the Université Catholique de Louvain (2002), Victoire de la musique for his musical career (2002) and in 2003, the Gold Medal awarded by the Catalunya Parliament, the Prix d’Honneur of the Deutsche Schallplattenkritik and various “Midem Classical Awards”  (1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005). In 2006, the album “Don Quichote de la Mancha” not only won an award in the “Ancient Music”  category, but also created a sensation by winning “Album of the Year.”  The current recording of Jerusalem, which is being presented in concert in Montreal on April 29 won the Midem Classical Awards for 2010. In 2007, he was named European Ambassador for intercultural dialogue. Along with soprano Montserrat Figueras, Jordi Savall was named UNESCO Artist for Peace in 2008.

Montserrat Figueras

Montserrat Figueras is one of the essential references and principle interpreters of a large vocal repertoire covering the medieval, renaissance and baroque periods. Since 1966, she has been studying ancient singing techniques, ranging from troubadours to the baroque, which have allowed her to develop a very personal style inspired directly from original, historic and traditional sources, with post-romantic influences.
In 1967, an artistic and human relationship began with Jordi Savall. Their collaboration gave birth to a mutual and reciprocal style that is particularly evident in the new manner of interpretation that marked the evolution of the entire musical history movement.