Le Concert des Nations
Vita
The orchestra Le Concert des Nations was founded in 1989 by Jordi Savall and Montserrat Figueras and is the youngest of their three ensembles. Its name is taken from François Couperin’s compilation Les Nations, which symbolizes the union of the “tastes” and the vision of a single Europe of the arts. The musicians in this orchestra come mostly from Latin countries, and all of them are renowned specialists on period instruments. Their repertoire, which they perform in many international music centers and at leading early music festivals, starts with the earliest orchestral compositions of the 17th century and extends to the masterpieces of early Romanticism. Charpentier’s Canticum Beatae Virgine was the first project undertaken by Le Concert des Nations; they then went on to perform music by Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, as well as Arriaga and Boccherini. In 1992 Le Concert des Nations made its debut as an opera orchestra with Una cosa rara by Vicente Martín y Soler; this premiere was followed by various productions, including Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo. The orchestra has additionally devoted itself to such rarities as Hidalgo’s Celos aun del aire matan, which they have performed in Salamanca, Barcelona, and Vienna, and Vivaldi’s Farnace, initially produced at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid and with subsequent performances by the ensemble in Bordeaux, Vienna, and Paris. Le Concert des Nations has recorded more than 40 CDs, many of which have won awards. Their most recent releases appeared in the fall of 2015: Biber’s Missa Salisburgensis and an album titled Les Éléments, which features Baroque music depicting water, tempests, and thunderstorms. Le Concert des Nations is supported by the Departament de Cultura of the Generalitat de Catalunya and the Institut Ramon Llull.
LUCERNE FESTIVAL debut on 27 March 2004 in works by Scheidt, Monteverdi, Falconieri, Marini, and Schein.
February 2016