Search - Monterrat Figueras (soprano), La Capella Reial de Catalunya (choir), Francesc Garrigosa (tenor) :: Cançons de la Catalunya mil-lenària - Planys & Llegendes

A classic Catalan recording and a personal all-time favorite

T. Luck | Boh. | 12/11/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Cancons de la Catalunya Mil-lenaria: Planys & Llegendes" is an absolutely sublime recording. In my humble opinion, it represents the best of Montserrat Figueras (here joined on "El comte Arnau" ["Count Arnau"] by tenor Francesc Garrigosa) and La Capella Reial de Catalunya under the direction of Jordi Savall (perhaps best known for the soundtrack to TOUS LES MATINS DU MONDE). Nine absolutely gorgeous songs (or tunes) will enchant you, and at times will lull you merrily to sleep. While most of the songs are plaintive/melancholy, a couple of the tunes are quite spritely (e.g. "La filadora" ["The Spinner"]). "El cant del ocells" ("The Song of the Birds") is, according to the liner notes, "a traditional lullaby on a Christmas theme with one of the most beautiful and inspired melodies of the Catalan songs. Pau Casals has made it well known around the world, and it has become the emblematic tune of our country because of its musical perfection. The expressive melody, which is captivating in its... inherent beauty, appeared at the beginning of the eighteenth century... The song of the bird is imitated by the flute and answered by the harp and the theorbo supported by the violas." Do not hesitate to purchase this CD (which went out of production once already). If, by chance, the lovely melodies don't float your boat, it's not likely you'd have trouble making a wonderful gift of it to a MORE DISCERNING friend. I have heard Spanish-speaking friends and acquaintances talk of how they were treated rudely by Catalan speakers who refused to speak Spanish in their prescence (in the film L'AUBERGE ESPAGNOL", there is a university professor who refuses to speak the Spanish that the majority of his students speak in favor of his native Catalan). How could I, a native English speaker, truly understand the feeling of Catalan speakers? Well, I would venture to guess (with the help of David Crystal's A DICTIONARY OF LANGUAGE, 2nd ed.) that, with only about 4 million native speakers (with about 5 million more speakers worldwide), aside from the natural pride they feel, they may also feel rather threatened. The Catalan language has been recovering from long periods of political repression. In any event, after hearing this stunningly beautiful music, you may well wish you were a native speaker, too. I can't thank the artists enough for sharing this beautiful collection with us. Snatch up a copy before it goes out of production, again."