This month: JORDI SAVALL Conductor
REWIND
MY FINEST MOMENT
Beethoven Missa Solemnis
La Capella Nacional de Catalunya; Le Concert des Nations/Jordi Savall et al Alia Vox AVSA9956 (2023)
This was something I’d been preparing for many years, because it’s a really difficult project, one of the most complex and spiritual of the vocal and orchestral works. I had decided on something very simple first, which was to be well prepared, but also to take the time needed to go deep into the central aspects of the performance. I decided to take the same approach as I had with the complete Beethoven symphonies, which was to do six days of intensive work in one month, send everybody home and then do another six days of intensive work. This is the only way I can imagine to reach the work’s summit; you have time to experiment, time to discover. There are things that you imagine at home when you’re studying the score, but when you are working with the singers it becomes evident that things have to be done in a certain way. And you can only discover this if you have time; if you are in a hurry and you say, ‘We have to finish this in the next half hour,’ it’s impossible.
I’ve heard many nice performances of the Missa Solemnis with good ensembles, but the solo parts are often not properly aligned with the character of the work. I have a really good ensemble of solo singers, which makes me happy about this performance.
MY FONDEST MEMORY
Beethoven Symphony No. 9
La Capella Nacional de Catalunya; Le Concert des Nations/Jordi Savall et al Alia Vox AVSA9946 (2022)
My first Beethoven recording (the ‘Eroica’ Symphony in 1994) was possible because I had made the soundtrack for the film Tous les matins du monde in 1991. I received a royalty for sales of the CDs, and from 1991-93 I received a lot of money every month – it sold more than two million copies! But in approaching the later complete symphonies project, I asked President Macron if he would help; he was very interested and he helped me with the first subvention. With this I obtained financial support from all the partners – when the French president helps a project it’s much easier to get other people to join! The only problem was Covid, and that made things much more difficult.
I was finishing the Ninth Symphony and preparing to record it in Poland, but during the r
