Tag: Jordi Savall

Howay, Wey Aye, Man! – A Canny Interview With Jordi Savall Followed By A Canny Concert, L‘Europa Musicale: From The Renaissance To Baroque, Hespèrion XXI, St John’s Smith Square, 12 May 2019

Janie and I have seen Jordi Savall with his various Hespèrion colleagues several times over the years and have bought quite a lot of his recordings. To the extent that we are fans of anyone, we would consider ourselves fans.

Yet I had always assumed that Jordi was pronounced “Yordee” and not, as we learnt at this event, “Geordie“. Haddaway! Yes, really.

How did we find out? Because there was a short interview session an hour ahead of the concert, hosted by Robert Heason, who tossed a couple of open-ended questions at Jordi who then got on with the business of interviewing himself.

Gobby crack an’ all

It was actually really interesting to hear Jordi explain his way of thinking about early music and performance. He comes across as a very learned but likeable man who wears his expertise lightly. His comments on improvisation and the folk origins of serious music were especially interesting.

When the “conversation” ended, there was still nearly half an hour until the concert. We thought we’d take a picture of the instruments on the stage…

…but then almost immediately Jordi returned…

…and warmed up his fingers for a while on the stage…

Then we went to get some refreshments


“Gi’s a drink I’m gyezend, our lass”, (or words to that effect), said Ged.
“Are ye in a fettle, pet?”, (or words to that effect), asked Daisy

Aside: I realise that some folk who like to read about music are not aware that Ian and Janie are also Ged and Daisy. The origins of those pet names are explained here.

We saw “the nice couple” from the front row of many concerts previously reported, sitting a few seats away from us during the talk, but when we returned to our seats it transpired that their booked seats for the actual concert were right next to ours this time. Nice.

Of course the music was gorgeous. Here is a link to the SJSS resource so you can see and read about the concert.

We had seen Andrew Lawrence-King with Jordi before, in The Celtic Viol concert at The Wigmore Hall six years ago…

The Celtic Viol, Jordi Savall, Andrew Lawrence-King & Frank McGuire, Wigmore Hall, 9 June 2013

…but not with Xavier Díaz-Latorre, who I don’t think we’d seen before at all. His guitar and theorbo playing was excellent.

Below is a really nice video that shows Jordi and Xavier’s skills, though not one of the pieces we heard:

Below is some Jordi viol solo work, including some pieces we heard:

The entire concert is due to be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 5 June 2019, so enthusiasts can hear everything we heard.

It was a really interesting and lovely concert. It is always a treat to see Jordi Savall and his pals perform. And now we know to pronounce the name “Geordie”, which is very important.

After saying goodbye to the nice couple…

…aw’s clamming, as was Daisy…

…so we picked up some shawarmas on the way home, to round off a very enjoyable evening with a tasty supper.

The Celtic Viol, Jordi Savall, Andrew Lawrence-King & Frank McGuire, Wigmore Hall, 9 June 2013

Two nights in a row at The Wigmore Hall…two nights in a row from the Early Music and Baroque Series…two corkers.

The previous night we’d seen the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin – click here or below:

‘Opus 5!’ – A Corelli Celebration, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Wigmore Hall, 8 June 2013

A very different style tonight. A rare chance to see Jordi Savall up close playing small scale music, along with Andrew Lawrence-King (he of the Loqueville that captivated me so many years ago).

Not all early music, of course, but some well early and some traditional of no fixed provenance; neither composer nor time period. Some lovely. All interesting.

Here is a link to the Wigmore Hall programme page for the evening.

Below is a YouTube with some music very much along the lines of the music we heard that night…

…and here is the very trio we saw, a few months later, performing live at the Fira Mediterrània de Manresa:

A truly memorable weekend of early music.

Mare Nostrum, Wigmore Hall, 2 May 2011

We had the joy, honour and privilege to see the marvellous Hespèrion XXI that spring, little knowing that it was to be one of the last few concerts Montserrat Figueras was able to give.

The concert was entitled Mare Nostrum, a celebration of early music cross-fertilisation between eastern and western traditions of music, spanning from Byzantium to Al-Andalus and Sephardic traditions of music.

Janie and I both remember the concert being an absolute delight. Here is a link to a very good music OMH review.

Available for download by clicking the image or through all major outlets

I also remember being slightly irritated on the night that none of the music we heard was available to buy on CD, as the relevant music was to be on a “forthcoming” CD. I would have been more sympathetic had I known that Montserrat Figueras was struggling with her health at that time.

I satisfied my crazy craving for Hespèrion XXI music at the time by procuring:

I resolved to seek out the Mare Nostrum album when it came out, but of course clean forgot about it and then went through a phase of not buying music, because I had so many CDs.

But today (29 December 2017), recalling how wonderful that 2011 concert experience was and how moving we had found this east-west fusion early music, I naturally could not resist the temptation to download the Mare Nostrum album. I’m so glad I did.

Janie and I have been thoroughly enjoying listening to the music and recalling that very special concert from 2011.

We have seen Jordi Savall and Hespèrion XXI several times since. We always enjoy those concerts, but feel very lucky to have experienced their live sound while Montserrat Figueras was still on the scene.