Montserrat Figueras

Born Mar 15, 1942 · Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Montserrat Figueras i García was an outstanding soprano and a leading figure in the performance of a vast vocal repertoire from the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods. Born in Barcelona into a family of music lovers, she studied with Jordi at Albareda and later at the Schola Cantorum Basilensis as well as the Musikakademie in Basel, Switzerland. From an early age she performed with Enric Gispert and the medieval music ensemble Ars Musicae. In 1966 she began studying early vocal techniques, from the troubadours to the Baroque, developing a highly personal approach directly inspired in the original sources, both historical and traditional, while remaining independent from post-Romantic influences. In 1967 she embarked on a personal and artistic partnership with Jordi Savall, which was to be singularly fruitful in the couple’s various musical activities, including teaching, research and creation. She developed an innovative performance style characterized by a close fidelity to the historical sources, as well as an extraordinary creative and expressive skill, which have influenced the entire historical music movement.