Yes, I still perform music by vihuelists, as well as from songbooks. It’s a repertory that I like a lot, but at the same time I believe that it is very delicate music to perform. Perhaps its apparent simplicity (the melodic lines are very clear) makes it very difficult to maintain that characteristic transparency of the musical discourse. Have you ever performed a cappella?

No. I have sung in vocal quartets but always with some sort of basso continuo. It seems like a very difficult and praiseworthy task, which requires a lot of effort. I would like to, but it’s something which must be well prepared.

You told me that while leafing through the first issue of Goldberg, Sophie Roughol’s article about Barbara Strozzi caught your attention…

Yes, it surprised me. It’s a coincidence because last summer I decided to prepare half a programme of her music. Although I’ve been familiar with most of her repertory for a long time now, I had never delved into her output, and I really feel that she is a composer who doesn’t deserve to be as unknown as she is.

And speaking of works in general, is it difficult to obtain material?

The hardest to obtain is Spanish music. The majority is still uncatalogued, and often it is complicated to gain access to the archives. I believe the Spanish State should encourage a complete cataloguing process. In any case, I’m not very inclined towards research; it’s something I don’t identify very well with. But I like to discover new works and be able to perform them….

Do you identify with the profile of the musician who specialises in early music as being a mixture of a performer and a musicologist?

Personally, I like performance above all else. But it is true that in some cases the musician is obliged to carry out the role of a musicologist. This is due, in part, to the difficulty in locating and accessing unpublished music. In addition, contact with musicologists is not always regular, although fortunately there are exceptions.

Is your association with music centred more on the interpretative side, or are you interested in other more theoretical or even extra-musical concepts?

In principle, what attracts me to any art, not just music, is beauty. Once this premise is met, I can concentrate on getting to know it better on my own. Literature, for example, is something which I have always liked, and even linguistics. I think musicians, especially singers like myself, should value both the music and the very sentiment that is expressed through the sung text.

In which languages do you prefer to sing?