Misteri d'Elx - Homenatge al: La Vespra (Sacred Drama for the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

"Every year a medieval Mystery play is performed in the town of Elche in south-east Spain. It focuses on the death and Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Listed by UNESCO on its list of masterpieces of oral history, the Mystery of Elche is a powerful work with deep roots. Jordi Savall does this sort of music with a tremendous sense of idiom, and he conjures some amazing sounds from his Catalonian musicians."
- Editor's Choice Gramophoen Magazine Awards Issue 2004

"AliaVox's detailed, widely dynamic sonics are gorgeous, though the engineering admittedly is often equally subordinate to the play, with balances that favor the artificial impact of the scenes over the illusion of a live performance. Joan Castano I Garcia and Savall's informative and engaging notes tell you everything you need to know about this inspired mission. This is a must for Savall fans, Medievalists, and all others brave enough to venture into such uncharted yet worthy musicological territory. Very highly recommended."
-- 10/10 ClassicsToday.com

"Though primarily recognized as a specialist in 17th and 18th century repertoire, Jordi Savall returns every decade or so to his Catalan roots. In 1979 he offered a premiere recording of the Llibre Vermell de Montserrat (Red Book of Montserrat, currently available on Virgin), a stunning recreation of a 14th century codex housed in a Catalan monastery. In 1988, along with his wife, soprano Montserrat Figueras, Savall offered a dazzling program of 10th century Catalan chant titled El Cant de la Sibilla (Songs of the Sibyl), which was so successful that a second volume was recorded in 1996 to equal international acclaim (both still available on Naïve Astrée). Well it's 2004, and with this premiere recording of the Misteri D'Elx (Mystery Play of Elche) Savall has done it again, offering a program every bit as rewarding and spiritually profound as those earlier accomplishments.

Almost without interruption since the 13th century (except for a Council of Trent ban from 1545-1563) every year on August 14 and 15 the congregation of the Basilica of Santa Maria in the Spanish city of Elche (just below Catalonia proper) presents this two-act play re-enacting the death, assumption, and crowning of the Virgin Mary. Given the length and magnitude of such a project, in the notes Savall aptly describes his nearly 80-minute version more as a tribute rather than a purist recreation. Savall also has chosen to strategically separate key scenes with instrumental interludes, augmenting the drama as well as supplementing the action. For example, in the scene following Mary's brief but highly emotional lament longing for death, a procession emerges to emulate the opening of the gates of heaven, the appearance of a pomegranate-shaped cloud delivering an Angel, and the introduction of the Angel's acceptance of the Virgin. Here in the wake of distant bells, the two percussionists offer a remarkably convincing thunderstorm guaranteed to test the limitations of your speakers.

Since the story is paramount, Savall, in accordance with medieval tradition, seldom allows the virtuosity of the vocalists to overwhelm it. Regardless, Figueras' role as Mary affords her ample occasion to display her unique, lovely instrument, and all of her equally distinguished colleagues deliver captivating, beautifully sung performances as well.

AliaVox's detailed, widely dynamic sonics are gorgeous, though the engineering admittedly is often equally subordinate to the play, with balances that favor the artificial impact of the scenes over the illusion of a live performance. Joan Castano I Garcia and Savall's informative and engaging notes tell you everything you need to know about this inspired mission. This is a must for Savall fans, Medievalists, and all others brave enough to venture into such uncharted yet worthy musicological territory. Very highly recommended."
(Classics Today 10/10)

Every year, the Elche Festival or Mystery Play is celebrated by the people of Elche in the Valencia region to mark the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The performance is especially remarkable in that its roots reach deep into medieval times, when it originated as a mystery play evolving out of a liturgical drama based on the Scriptures, a musical form which was particularly widespread in the 14th and 15th centuries.

The celebration is divided into two acts and is staged, sung and experienced within the walls of the Basilica of Santa Maria in Elche on 14th and 15th of August. Of major artistic and historical importance, the Mystery re-enacts the death, assumption and crowning of the Virgin Mary.

Despite all the stumbling blocks of prohibition and other historical circumstances, and thanks to the determination, tradition and fervour of an entire community, this key work of medieval European religious theatre is the only one of its kind to have been performed virtually without interruption from the Middle Ages until the present day. In 1931 the Spanish State declared the Elche Festival a national monument, and in 2001 it was included in UNESCO's select list of 19 masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity.

Striking a balance between the various historical accounts of the work, this tribute to the Mystery of Elche marks the restoration of a long history of performance, based on the synthesis of more than 500 years of a musical tradition that has evolved and become richer over time. In this musical version, Jordi Savall has drawn on the objective sources provided by the Consuetas, or directories, of 1625 and 1639 (in the case of the texts) and 1709 (in the case of the music). Added to these are the much earlier sources of oral tradition, dating from the second half of the 15th century and, finally, the various contributions to the practice of improvised ornamentation which have graced the work throughout its history and which had assumed their present form by the end of the 18th or beginning of the 19th century. Rooted in that medieval tradition from which the Songs of the Sibyl also sprang, and bearing the imprint of both the Renaissance and the Baroque period, this Mystery of Elche nevertheless has an extraordinary musical unity.

Montserrat Figueras and Jordi Savall have been fascinated by this work since they first discovered it in 1965-70; now, together with all the singers and musicians of La Capella Reial de Catalunya, they offer us their vision of the Mystery of Elche in a recording that is breathtakingly beautiful and at the same time endowed with remarkable expressive and spiritual power. An indispensable revelation!