Hesperion

Despite its hefty, hardbound, 300-plus-page book and attendant top price, Jordi Savall's Venezia Millenaria has appeared on commercial sales charts. It's easy to see why: this is one of Savall's most ambitious concepts, covering the promised millennium of the history of the city of Venice, Italy, plus a bit more as a bonus, taking you up to the end of Venice's independence. The book contains enough information that it could serve as the basis for a little travelers' course, but there's also a case to be made for just listening and letting a thousand years of music wash over you.

Jordi Savall & Hespèrion XXI - Altre Follie, 1500-1750 (2005) {Alia Vox AVSA9844}
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© 2005 Alia Vox | AVSA 9844
Classical / Renaissance / Baroque / Chamber Music

Throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, as the new, centralized power of the absolute state was established in most European nations, royal courts all over Europe became the very heart of cultural and artistic life in their respective countries. They assembled an elite of aristocratic courtiers who were expected to master the principles of poetry, dance and vocal and instrumental music, as much as they were supposed to follow a strict and complex etiquette in all aspects of daily social interaction, adopt a luxurious and ever-changing fashion code, or sustain a refined conversation with a lady.

Jordi Savall & Hespèrion XXI - Ibn Battuta, The Traveller of Islam, 1304-1377 (2019) {Alia Vox AVSA9930, SACD}
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© 2019 Alia Vox | AVSA 9930
Classical / Medieval / World Music

Ibn Battuta had the same significance in the Muslim world as Marco Polo in the Western countries. A relentless traveler, he deeply changed the perception of the Orient among his contemporaries and the following generations. Morocco, Mali, Egypt, Yemen, Zanzibar, India, The Maldives and China: this non-exhaustive list gives us a hint about the extraordinary journey Jordi Savall invites us on.

Jordi Savall & Hesperion XXI - Diaspora Sefardi (1999) {2CD Set Alia Vox AV 9809 A+B} (Montserrat Figueras)
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 551 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 304 Mb
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© 1999 Alia Vox | AV 9809 A+B
Classical / Medieval / Renaissance / Chamber Music / Vocal Music / Jewish Folk / Western European Traditions / Spanish Folk

Hespèrion XXI was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2001 for their double album Diáspora Sefardí, a collection of vocal works and instrumental pieces dating from the 15th century when the Jews were expelled from parts of Spain. The Sephardic Diaspora refers to this Jewish exodus in 1492 when King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella commanded that all Jews who refused to convert to Christianity be expelled from Castile and Aragon in modern-day Spain. An estimated 100,000 Jews fled to North Africa, lands of the Ottoman empire (particularly Turkey and Greece), and other European countries such as France, Italy, and Portugal. These exiles brought with them unique culture, language, and traditions. The resultant marriage of influences from the Sephardic Jews’ old and new homes is reflected in Hespèrion XXI’s two-disc set, Diáspora Sefardí. The selections on the album depict not only surviving traditions of medieval Hispanic music but also the influence of sophisticated musical forms which developed in the Ottoman empire during the 16th century.

Jordi Savall & Hesperion XXI - Mare Nostrum - Orient - Occident: Dialogues (2011) {2CD Set Alia Vox AVSA 9888}
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© 2011 Alia Vox | AVSA 9888
Classical / Medieval / Choral

Mare Nostrum (Latin for Our Sea ) was a Roman name for the Mediterranean Sea, one of the most important focal points of cultural, political and intellectual growth and exchange and dialogue in the history of humankind. In this lavishly illustrated CD-book, Jordi Savall and the musicians of Hespèrion XXI invite us to explore the facts, myths and legends of the Mediterranean and the sway it has had over many peoples and cultures from Morocco to Israel, from Spain to Lebanon. Also featured on the recording are soprano Montserrat Figueras and Israeli singer Lior Elmaleh, one of the leading representatives of the new generation of performers of Andalusian music.

Dimitrie Cantemir - Istanbul: The Book of Science of Music
Hespèrion XXI / Jordi Savall - Gursoy Dincer, Lior Elmaleh & Montserrat Figueras
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 348 MB | Full Artwork: 726 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Alia Vox # AVSA9870 | Country/Year: Spain 2009
Genre: Classical | Style: Baroque, World Classical

“This is a typical Alia Vox Hesperion release: sumptuously packaged, richly illustrated, and supported by edifying scholarly notes about the music and its historical context. It's recorded in clear yet atmospheric sound…In addition to the late Montserrat Figueras, there is wonderful singing by the Israeli Lior Elmaleh ad the Turk Gursoy Dincer.” ~BBC Music Magazine

Jordi Savall & Hesperion XXI - Estampies & Danses Royales: Le Manuscrit du Roi ca.1270-1320 (2008) {Alia Vox AVSA 9857}
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© 2008 Alia Vox | AVSA 9857
Classical / Medieval

Vigorous and colourful medieval dances revealed by Jordi Savall! The Estampie is a medieval dance consisting of four to seven sections, called puncta, each of which is repeated (in the form aa, bb, cc, etc…).The more widely accepted etymology relates it to stamper, to stamp the feet. Illuminations and paintings from the period seem to indicate that the estampie involves fairly vigorous hopping. The earliest reported example of this musical form is the song "Kalenda Maya" (track 3), supposedly written by the troubadour Raimbaut de Vaqueiras (1180-1207) to the melody of an estampida played by French jongleurs. In this irresistible album, Jordi Savall explores a Royal manuscript from the French National Library.

Jordi Savall & Hesperion XXI - Esprit des Balkans (Balkan Spirit) (2013) {Alia Vox AVSA9898}
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© 2014 Alia Vox | AVSA9898
World Music / Chamber Music

Jordi Savall once again enriches our view of a region teeming with history: the Balkans. Following on the success of Spirit of Armenia, Alia Vox, a label acclaimed for revealing hidden gems from the vast history of music, presents Balkan Spirit - a collection of music that sheds light on a little-known repertoire that conveys the whole spectrum of human emotions. Presented with both the iconographic richness and quality packaging that Alia Vox is famous for, this journey of musical discovery is another important milestone in the discography of Catalan master Jordi Savall and his ensemble Hesperion XXI.

Jordi Savall & Hesperion XXI - Christophorus Columbus (2006) {2CD+Book Set Alia Vox AVSA 9850}
EAC rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 701 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 348 Mb
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© 2006 Alia Vox | AVSA 9850
Classical / Renaissance / World Music / Sacred & Religious

This remarkable release, comprising two CDs and a book of 270 pages with information in Spanish, English, German, Italian, Catalan, Arabic, and Hebrew, is a veritable history lesson in music, poetry, and literature about Spain, as well as Christopher Columbus and his voyages and times. The title of the set, Lost Paradises, refers to the cessation of the period during which all three traditions - Jewish, Muslim and Christian - worked together to create greatness. The music, pre-baroque and sounding very exotic indeed, is exquisitely performed, sometimes by itself and sometimes in conjunction with the reading of a text. The Moorish and Sephardic music is particularly colorful, but the more familiar, "early" music is just as ravishing. With repertoire both sacred and profane, featuring dances and dirges, Savall, in his notes, is attempting to make us pay heed to the past so that we may form our futures: This isn't as pedantic as it sounds, but it is certainly more than an afternoon of great music listening. What a stunning gift this would make - either to yourself or others.

Jordi Savall & Hespèrion XX - Couperin - Les Apothéoses (1986) {Astrée-Auvidis E 7709}
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© 1986 Astrée (Auvidis) | E 7709
Classical / Baroque / Chamber Music

Couperin’s synthesis of French and Italian styles reached a peak in two works of the 1720s which reveal his refined assimilation of their contrasting essentials. The shorter of them, L’apothéose de Corelli, pays tribute to Couperin’s older Italian contemporary in a Grande sonade en trio. L’apothéose de Lully, containing elements both of sonata and suite, is more complex, with a programmatic element signposted with carefully positioned tempo markings and a profusion of descriptive titles. Jordi Savall and Hespèrion XX provide lively, idiomatic performances employing a mixed ensemble – Couperin did not specify instrumentation; but some readers may, like me, find the spoken introduction to their movements irritating, especially since they are reproduced in the accompanying leaflet.