Xavier Díaz Latorre is a Spanish musician. Born 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 ...

in 1968, he studied at advanced level with

Oscar Ghiglia Oscar Alberto Ghiglia (born 13 August 1938) is an Italian classical guitarist. Biography Early years Born in Livorno to an artistic family – his father and grandfather were both famed painters, his mother an accomplished pianist – Oscar Ghig ...

at the Musikhochschule,

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

, graduating in 1993. His subsequent interest 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 ...

led him to study the

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

with

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 ...

at the

Schola Cantorum Basiliensis The Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB) is a music academy and research institution located in Basel, Switzerland, that focuses on early music and historically informed performance. Faculty at the school have organized performing ensembles that have ...

. He has completed several courses in choral conducting and a post-graduate course in orchestral conducting. He has been awarded several international performance prizes in France and Spain. Since 1995 he has been actively involved in the world of

baroque opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

, having participated in major productions such as

Semele (Handel) ''Semele'' ( HWV 58) is a 'musical drama', originally presented "after the manner of an oratorio", in three parts by George Frideric Handel. Based on an existing opera libretto by William Congreve, the work is an opera in all but name but was fi ...

at the

Berlin State Opera The (), also known as the Berlin State Opera (german: Staatsoper Berlin), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Prussian king Frederick the Great from ...

with the

Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin (Academy for Early Music Berlin, short name: Akamus) is a German chamber orchestra founded in East Berlin in 1982. Each year Akamus gives approximately 100 concerts, ranging from small chamber works to large-scale s ...

, conducted by

René Jacobs René Jacobs (born 30 October 1946) is a Belgian musician. He came to fame as a countertenor, but later in his career he became known as a conductor of baroque and classical opera. Biography Countertenor Born in Ghent, Jacobs began his music ...

;

L'Orfeo ''L'Orfeo'' ( SV 318) (), sometimes called ''La favola d'Orfeo'' , is a late Renaissance/early Baroque ''favola in musica'', or opera, by Claudio Monteverdi, with a libretto by Alessandro Striggio. It is based on the Greek legend of Orpheus, and ...

(

Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered ...

) at the Goldoni Theatre,

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, the

Théâtre de la Monnaie The Royal Theatre of La Monnaie (french: Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, italic=no, ; nl, Koninklijke Muntschouwburg, italic=no; both translating as the "Royal Theatre of the Mint") is an opera house in central Brussels, Belgium. The National O ...

, Brussels,

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

, London, the Grand Théâtre de Provence,

Aix-en-Provence Aix-en-Provence (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Ais de Provença in classical norm, or in Mistralian norm, ; la, Aquae Sextiae), or simply Aix ( medieval Occitan: ''Aics''), is a city and commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. ...

, the

Théâtre des Champs-Élysées The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées () is an entertainment venue standing at 15 avenue Montaigne in Paris. It is situated near Avenue des Champs-Élysées, from which it takes its name. Its eponymous main hall may seat up to 1,905 people, while th ...

, Paris, and the BAM, New York City, again under René Jacobs but with

Concerto Vocale Concerto Vocale is a Belgian musical ensemble for baroque music. History Concerto Vocale was founded in Amsterdam in 1977 by the Belgian countertenor and Conducting, conductor René Jacobs. The vocal ensemble has included sopranos María Cristin ...

; L’Orfeo again, but with

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 th ...

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 ...

at the

Teatro Real The Teatro Real (Royal Theatre) is an opera house in Madrid, Spain. Located at the Plaza de Oriente, opposite the Royal Palace of Madrid, Royal Palace, and known colloquially as ''El Real'', it is considered the top institution of the performing a ...

, Madrid and the

Liceu The Gran Teatre del Liceu (, English: Great Theatre of the Lyceum), known as ''El Liceu'', is an opera house in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Located in La Rambla, it is the oldest running theatre in Barcelona. Founded in 1837 at another loca ...

, Barcelona; Solimano (

Johann Adolph Hasse Johann Adolph Hasse (baptised 25 March 1699 – 16 December 1783) was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a co ...

) at the Berlin and

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

State Operas with

Concerto Köln Concerto Köln is an ensemble specialising in music of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The group formed in 1985, one of many groups associated with the surging interest in period instruments in that decade. Its members consisted mainly o ...

and René Jacobs;

La Serva Padrona ''La serva padrona'', or ''The Maid Turned Mistress'', is a 1733 intermezzo by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736) to a libretto by Gennaro Federico, after the play by Jacopo Angello Nelli. It is some 40 minutes long, in two parts without o ...

(Pergolesi) at the Philharmonie, Berlin and

Ludwigsburg Palace Ludwigsburg Palace, nicknamed the "Versailles of Swabia", is a 452-room palace complex of 18 buildings located in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Its total area, including the gardens, is the largest palatial estate in the country. T ...

with the

Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble Thomas Hengelbrock (born 9 June 1958) is a German violinist, musicologist, stage director and conductor. Born in Wilhelmshaven, Hengelbrock studied the violin with Rainer Kussmaul. He started his career in Würzburg and Freiburg im Breisgau. ...

and

Thomas Hengelbrock Thomas Hengelbrock (born 9 June 1958) is a German violinist, musicologist, stage director and conductor. Born in Wilhelmshaven, Hengelbrock studied the violin with Rainer Kussmaul. He started his career in Würzburg and Freiburg im Breisgau. ...

; Dal Male il Bene (

Marco Marazzoli Marco Marazzoli (1602? – 26 January 1662) was an Italian priest and Baroque music composer. Early life Born at Parma, Marazzoli received early training as a priest, and was ordained around 1625. He moved to Rome in 1626, and entered the s ...

and

Antonio Maria Abbatini Antonio Maria Abbatini ( or 1610 – or 1679) was an Italian composer, active mainly in Rome. Abbatini was born in Città di Castello. He served as maestro di cappella at the Basilica of St. John Lateran from 1626 to 1628; at the cathedral in Orv ...

) at the Landestheater,

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

with Concerto Vocale and Attilio Cremonesi; Don Chisciote della Mancia in

Sierra Morena The Sierra Morena is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain. It stretches for 450 kilometres from east to west across the south of the Iberian Peninsula, forming the southern border of the ''Meseta Central'' plateau and providi ...

(Francesco Bartolomeo Conti) with the University of Salamanca Baroque Orchestra and Wieland Kuijken.

Festivals

Xavier Díaz-Latorre frequently takes part in major international festivals in Europe, the USA, South America, and South Korea. He is a member of renowned

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

s and chamber groups such as those conducted by Jordi Savall – Hesperion XXI,

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 de Nations, and has been invited to perform with other major orchestras and ensembles such as the

Orquesta Nacional de España The Orquesta Nacional de España (Spanish National Orchestra) is a symphonic orchestra that is based in Madrid, Spain. History Although the orchestra originated as of 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, it was legally founded in 1940, by the mergin ...

Al Ayre Español Al Ayre Español is a vocal and instrumental ensemble specialized on early music founded in 1988 by harpsichordist Eduardo López Banzo.Interview with Eduardo López Banzo owww.odb-opera.com/ref> The name of the ensemble was inspired by the titl ...

Laberintos Ingeniosos

He has his own vocal and instrumental ensemble, Laberintos Ingeniosos, which specialises in the performance of music from the

Spanish Golden Age The Spanish Golden Age ( es, Siglo de Oro, links=no , "Golden Century") is a period of flourishing in arts and literature in Spain, coinciding with the political rise of the Spanish Empire under the Catholic Monarchs of Spain and the Spanish H ...

. The group’s first disc, Danzas de Rasgueado y Sones de Palacio, with music by the Aragonese composer

Gaspar Sanz Francisco Bartolomé Sanz Celma (April 4, 1640 (baptized) – 1710), better known as Gaspar Sanz, was a Spanish composer, guitarist, and priest born to a wealthy family in Calanda in the comarca of Bajo Aragón, Spain. He studied music, theolo ...

, recorded on the Zig-Zag Territoires label, has received excellent reviews in the media, and has been broadcast by several international radio stations throughout Europe, Israel, Australia, South Korea and North America. Laberintos Ingeniosos has now made further CDs of music from the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

performed on period instruments, such as Goyesca, seguidillas boleras, with music by

Fernando Sor Fernando Sor (bapt. 14 Feb. 1778, died 10 July 1839) was a Spanish classical guitarist and composer of the Romantic music, Early Romantic era. Best known for writing solo classical guitar music, he also composed an opera (at the age of 19), thr ...

, and “...entre el cielo y el infierno...”, with works by

Francisco Guerau Francisco Guerau (1649 – 1722) was a Spanish Baroque music, Baroque composer. After being born on Majorca, he entered the singing school at the Royal College in Madrid in 1659, becoming a member of the Royal Chapel as an alto singer and composer ...

and José Marín. In addition, Xavier Díaz-Latorre has taken part in over 30 CDs for Alia Vox and

Deutsche Harmonia Mundi Deutsche Harmonia Mundi (founded 1958) is a German classical music record label. It was founded by Rudolf Ruby and based in Freiburg, Breisgau. The company was acquired by BMG Music in 1992 and is now part of Sony Music Entertainment. Ruby had Alf ...

, and has made recordings for numerous television and radio stations in Europe, North and South America and Korea.cduniverse.com
/ref>

Teaching

He has been invited to give courses at many venues in Spain, Italy, Germany and Switzerland, also at Seoul (South Korea). He is resident teacher of lute,

basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...

and chamber music at the

Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya The Catalonia College of Music ( ca, Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya, ESMUC; ) is a music school in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The school is located at L'Auditori, a performing arts center inaugurated in 1999 which also houses three conc ...

(ESMUC).

References

External links

Xavier Diaz-Latorre's home pageXavier Diaz-Latorre video interview at underyourskin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz-Latorre, Xavier Living people Spanish conductors (music) Male conductors (music) Spanish lutenists 1968 births Musicians from Barcelona 21st-century conductors (music) 21st-century male musicians Spanish male musicians