Homage to Catalonia
Absolutely not to be missed is the reissue of a classic album from 1990 seen above. Songs from the Thousand-Year-Old Land of Catalonia sung by Montserrat Figueras with La Capell Reial de Catalunya directed by Jordi Savall was originally released by Astrée and has now been re-released on Alia Vox's mid-price Heritage series, complete with three additional tracks. This is the album that really launched Montserrat Figueras' career and you only need to listen to the first track to understand why. A young Arianna and Ferran Savall joined their parents at the Astrée sessions and Ferran went on to cover the Thief's Song and Els Segadors sung by his mother in 1988 on his woefully underrated 2008 solo album . If you need any more convincing let me tell you that the opening track is Montserrat Figueras singing El Cant Dels Aucells ( The Song of the Birds) made famous by that other great Catalan musician Pau Casals . The final track on Songs from the Thousand-Year-Old Land of Ca