Montserrat Figueras

Montserrat Figueras

Montserrat Figueras in 2006
Background information
Birth name Montserrat Figueras i García
Born 15 March 1942
Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Origin Catalan
Died 23 November 2011[1][2]
Cerdanyola del Vallès, Catalonia, Spain
Genres Early music
Instruments Vocals

Montserrat Figueras i García (Catalan: [munsəˈrat fiˈɣeɾəs i ɡərˈsi.ə]; 1942–2011) was a Catalan soprano who specialized in early music.

Figueras was born 15 March 1942 in Barcelona, Spain.[1][3] After initially training as an actress, in 1966 she began studying early singing techniques together with her sister Pilar Figueras and developed an approach and technique for singing early music which combined historical fidelity with vitality.[4][5]

In 1974 she and Jordi Savall, her husband since 1968, Lorenzo Alpert and Hopkinson Smith formed Hespèrion XX, an early music ensemble. Figueras and her husband were members of a newer version of that ensemble, Hespèrion XXI. They also founded the groups La Capella Reial de Catalunya and Le Concert des Nations.

Figueras also performed and recorded regularly as a solo artist. She and her husband performed with their children: daughter Arianna and son Ferran.[6]

She died on 23 November 2011 in Cerdanyola del Vallès, surrounded by her family, after a long battle with cancer.[7][8] The funeral was held at the Monastery of Pedralbes in Barcelona.[9]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Muere la soprano Montserrat Figueras, La Vanguardia, 23/11/2011
  2. ↑ Notice of her death, at Alia Vox, her recording label
  3. ↑ Notice of Figueras' death with 1942 year of birth
  4. ↑ Official website of Montserrat Figueras, Jordi Savall and Hespèrion XXI
  5. ↑ Montserrat Figueras - Telegraph
  6. ↑ Lawrence-King, Andrew (7 December 2011). "Montserrat Figueras obituary: Catalan soprano and specialist in baroque and earlier music". Guardian, accessed 22 March 2012.
  7. ↑ Notice of her death, at Alia Vox, her recording label
  8. ↑ Mor la soprano Montserrat Figueras
  9. ↑ El funeral de Montserrat Figueras, La Vanguardia, 23/11/2011

External links