Le Concert des Nations
Founded in 1989 by Jordi Savall and Montserrat Figueras during the preparation of a project on Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Canticum ad Beatam Virginem Mariam, Le Concert des Nations was born out of the need for a period instrument orchestra capable of performing repertory from the Baroque to the Romantic period, from 1600 to 1850. Its name comes from François Couperin’s work Les Nations, a concept that represents the coming together of musical tastes and the idea that art in Europe would always bear its own particular stamp, that of the Age of the Enlightenment.
Le Concert des Nations, under the direction of Jordi Savall, was the first orchestra to largely comprise musicians from Latin countries (including Spain, Latin America, France, Italy and Portugal), featuring leading international specialists in the performance of early music using original period instruments and historical principles. From the outset, the group’s aim has been to raise audience awareness of a historical repertory of great quality by combining rigorous respect for the original spirit of each work with a revitalizing approach to performance, as is apparent in their recordings of works by Charpentier, Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Handel, Marais, Arriaga, Beethoven, Purcell, Dumanoir, Lully, Biber, Boccherini, Rameau and Vivaldi.
In 1992 Le Concert des Nations made its operatic debut with a production of Vicente Martín y Soler’s Una cosa rara at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Liceu in Barcelona and the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid. The group subsequently performed Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo at the Liceu, the Teatro Real, Madrid, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Arsenal in Metz and the Teatro Regio in Turin. In 2002 the production returned to the reopened Liceu in Barcelona, where it was recorded by the BBC for an Opus Arte DVD. It was also subsequently mounted at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Grand-Théâtre in Bordeaux and the Piccolo Teatro in Milan during the MITO SettembreMusica.
In 1995 the orchestra performed another Vicente Martín y Soler opera in Montpellier (Il burbero di buon cuore), followed in 2000 by Juan Hidalgo and Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s Celos aun del aire matan in a concert version in Barcelona and Vienna. Recent productions include Vivaldi’s Farnace at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid and Vivaldi’s Il Teuzzone at the Opéra Royal de Versailles.
Recently, the orchestra has increasingly dedicated itself to choral-symphonic works such as Haydn’s Creation, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Handel’s Messiah. As part of the 250th birthday celebrations for Beethoven it recorded a complete cycle of his symphonies under Jordi Savall in 2020/21, released on two albums under the title Beethoven Révolution.
Recordings by Le Concert des Nations have won various awards and distinctions, including the Midem Classical Award and the International Classical Music Award. The impact of their productions, recordings and performances in major cities and music festivals around the world has earned them recognition as one of the best orchestras specializing in performance using period instruments, with an eclectic and diverse repertory ranging from the earliest music composed for orchestra to the masterpieces of the Classical and Romantic periods.
Supported by the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya, and by the Institut Ramon Llull. With financial support of Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles Occitanie.