Montserrat Figueras i García (, 15 March 1942 – 23 November 2011) was a Spanish

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

who specialized in

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad musical era for the beginning of Western classical m ...

. Figueras was born 15 March 1942 in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Spain. After initially training as an actress she began studying early singing techniques in 1966, together with her sister Pilar Figueras, and developed an approach and technique for singing early music which combined historical fidelity with vitality. In 1974 she and

Jordi Savall Jordi Savall i Bernadet (; born 1 August 1941) is a Spanish conductor, composer and viol player. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for popularizing the viol family of ...

, her husband since 1986, Lorenzo Alpert and

Hopkinson Smith Hopkinson Smith (born December 7, 1946) is an American lutenist and pedagogue, longtime resident in Basel, Switzerland. Smith was born in New York City, the son of architectural writer and photographer G. E. Kidder Smith. He graduated from Har ...

formed Hespèrion XX (Later:

Hespèrion XXI Hespèrion XXI is an international early music ensemble. The group was formed in Basel, Switzerland in 1974 as Hespèrion XX by Catalan musical director Jordi Savall (bowed string instruments, particularly the viola da gamba), his wife Montserrat ...

), an early music ensemble. Figueras and her husband also founded the groups

La Capella Reial de Catalunya ''La Capella Reial de Catalunya'' is a group of soloist singers with the aim of making the repertoire of Catalan historical music and, by extension, that of Spanish and other music widely known throughout the world. The group was formed in Barce ...

and

Le Concert des Nations ''Le Concert des Nations'' is an orchestra using period instruments, which performs the orchestral and symphonic repertoire from the Baroque to Romanticism: 1600 - 1900. The orchestra was created in 1989, the youngest of the groups conducted by the ...

. Figueras performed and recorded regularly as a solo artist and she and her husband also performed with their children: daughter Arianna and son Ferran. She died on 23 November 2011 in

Cerdanyola del Vallès Cerdanyola del Vallès () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Vallès Occidental in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated on the north side of the Collserola ridge. The town is served by the A-7 and C-58 motorways, the N-150 road and the Renfe ...

, surrounded by her family, after a long battle with cancer. The funeral was held at the

Monastery of Pedralbes The Monastery of Pedralbes is a Gothic monastery in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is now a museum, housing permanent exhibitions on its own art and legacy as well as third-party special exhibitions from time to time. The Chapel of St. Michael w ...

in Barcelona.El funeral de Montserrat Figueras
La Vanguardia, 23/11/2011

Notes

External links

*
Montserrat Figueras biography
' (at Alia Vox website) {{DEFAULTSORT:Figueras Garcia, Montserrat 1942 births 2011 deaths Deaths from cancer in Spain Musicians from Barcelona Musicians from Catalonia Performers of medieval music Spanish sopranos Spanish performers of early music Women performers of early music 20th-century Spanish musicians 20th-century Spanish women singers 20th-century Spanish singers