Soul.

Jordi Savall leads Hesperion XXI in a memorial concert for his late wife, soprano Monserrat Figueras ...

I have had the great privilege of sharing 45 years of intense, fruitful life with Montserrat. She was friend, companion, lover, mother, muse, teacher and an exceptional source of wisdom throughout our life together. Over and above the great artist that she was, everything that she did in her life was permeated with that light that was made of infinite love, extreme sensitivity and generosity, and the tireless search for dialogue and pathways to peace and harmony through emotion, spirituality and grace. That grace, as La Fontaine says, which is more beautiful than beauty itself. It is that light which gives us the strength to go on without her presence and which will help us to fill the great void she leaves behind with the projects that she would have wished to carry out. She liked to remind us that “above all, whoever sings a lullaby is moved by the desire to give of their very best, in itself an act of love through which the child experiences the essence of life” (Ninna Nanna, 2002). Thank you, dear Montserrat, for having taught us that “it is not enough to listen to music with our ears, we must also listen with our soul.”

Thank you so much, dear friends, for all your extraordinary and moving messages of support, admiration and love, which have been such a comfort to us at this time of great sadness and infinite sorrow. Her spirit will be present in all the music we make; together with all those who in this World have delighted in her song, we will continue to keep her memory alive always by striving for the ideals of peace and harmony that she cherished.

- Jordi Savall