FRANCISCO JAVIER - THE ROUTE O

When he was only a child, Jordi Savall entered a church in which musicians were rehearsing Mozart's Requiem. It made such a impression on him that he said to himself: "If music has such a power, I want to be a musician." Now 81, having recorded 230 albums, he delivers a stunning new recording of this work. "Savall conducted with his chamber ensemble Le Concert des Nations and chorus La Capella Nacional de Catalunya a version vividly depicting the horrors of death... as a musician and consummate scholar he is a man of the Enlightenment and succeeds in reviving the original religious intention and effect of this Mass for the Dead." (S�ddeutsche Zeitung)

Following a recording of Beethoven's complete symphonies, which largely contributed to renew our vision of the early Romantic repertoire, Jordi Savall releases his first Schubert album. The Catalan maestro delivers a recording freed from the weight of past traditions to underline the dynamics, the section balance and the timbres that are required in this repertoire. Jordi Savall decided to entitle this album Transfiguration, because, as he explains, we are always astonished at Schubert's ability to reach this essentially internal and spiritual dimension, this kind of Transfiguration, which he simply sums up as follows in his diary in 1824: "My production is the result of my musical knowledge and my pain" or, to quote a poem he wrote a little earlier, "When I wanted to sing love, it turned into pain. When I wanted to sing pain, it turned into love."

Following the huge success of the Symphonies boxsets, and considering Jordi Savall's expertise in sacred music it was invevitable that he should record the Missa Solemnis. As in his previous Beethoven, Schubert and Mendelssohn recordings, the Catalan maestro delivers a recording freed from the weight of past traditions to underline the dynamics, the section balance and the timbres that are required in this repertoire. He ignites the Promethean fire as imagined by Beethoven's demiurgic mind.

In her first solo album as a singer and harpist, Arianna Savall introduces us to a repertoire from the medieval and Baroque periods performed with seven different historical harps. The music comes from Italy, France, and Spain, where the harp has held a prominent position in cultural life, and experienced a flowering of unique variety and beauty.

In November 2011, the music world suffered a huge loss with the passing of the great soprano Montserrat Figueras. Acclaimed in recent years for her exceptional work with her husband Jordi Savall, both in performance and in recordings for their Alia Vox label, Figueras was famed not only as a vocalist but also for her scholarly efforts in the area of musicology. This comprehensive tribute album presents a selection of highlights from Figueras career. It includes recordings she made for the Astre'e, DHM, EMI and Alia Vox labels.

WAR & PEACE 1614-1714

The 'Concert Spirituel' was one of the first public concert series in existence, running in Paris from 1725 to 1790. The series was founded to provide entertainment during religious holidays when the other spectacles (the Paris Opera, Comedie-Francaise, and Comedie-Italienne) were closed. The programs featured a mixture of sacred choral works and virtuosic instrumental pieces, and for many years took place in a magnificently decorated Salle des Cent Suisses (Hall of the Hundred Swiss Guards) in the Tuileries Palace. Jordi Savall brings these magnificent evenings back to life, thanks to an imaginary 'Concert Sprituel' program featuring three major composers from three major European countries: Corelli, Telemann and Rameau. The varied instrumental formations highlight flute, viola da gamba and strings.

DON QUIJOTE DE LA MANCHA ROMANCES Y MUSICAS

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS: LOST PARADISES

The name of the Balkans has an unusually graphic etymology. Having discovered the beauty of this pivotal part of Europe and experienced the ruggedness of it's people (who put up fierce resistance to invasion), the Turks chose to describe the region with the words Bal (Honey) and Kan (Blood). Never was there so apt a metaphor. On this new set from Alia Vox, Jordi Savall presents an ambitious program that explores the length and breadth of a region that has always had more than it's share of human and historical drama. Joined by guest musicians from the Balkan region, Savall traces the cycles of life, structured around the four seasons of the year and the corresponding seasons of human life. The set features nearly four hours of spellbinding music, accompanied by a lavishly documented 616 page CD-Book. A full track listing is available upon request.

FORGOTTEN KINGDOM

MOZART: SYMPHONIES NO.39 40 & 41

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. As usual, he is surrounded by early music experts and this CD-book is lavishly illustrated.

Jordi Savall leads La Capella Reial de Catalunya and Hesp�rion XXI in Tom�s Luis de Victoria's Officium Hebdomad� Sanct�. One of the most compelling examples of creative genius in a composer, this toweringly poignant masterpiece on the Passion of Christ, is a pure but infinitely subtle creation, Ad majorem Dei gloriam.