The saviour of lost causes from the Renaissance? That’s him! The insatiable digger, tirelessly tracking down savant polyphonies from the Early Middle Ages in European libraries? Him again! The recording of the first opera ever written by a woman (Francesca Caccini)? That’s him still, Paul Van Nevel, musicologist, cigar enthusiast, art historian, and mainly, music director of the Huelgas Ensemble since 1970. Let’s take an eager look at the Van-Nevelian music universe.

At the age of 72, the inexhaustible Belgian conductor and his faithful cigar don’t seem to be thinking about retirement. A lecturer at the Hanover University of Music, a guest conductor at the Danish National Radio Choir and the Netherlands Chamber Choir, he valiantly presides over the artistic destiny of his ensemble, for which there is always much to do. As an expert of ancient music notation and a true scholar of ars subtilior and everything in relation to polyphony, he has decided to name his ensemble after a Cistercian abbey near Burgos, in Spain. A respected name in the field of ancient music. Through their work on the very best polyphonic music from the Early Middle Ages to the Renaissance – the core of their repertoire −, the Huelgas Ensemble has rendered a kaleidoscope of rare music, interpreted by elite European singers handpicked depending on the programme. The qualities valued by the Belgian conductor were in short supply in the 1970s, and now, singers are flocking to collaborate with this rather discreet iconic figure in the world of ancient music.

Because Van Nevel understands that the two eras he feels most comfortable with have never and most likely will never be on the frontline of ancient music re-discovery. Remaining relevant in the midst of this field of ruins could only be done through artistic excellence. After witnessing a few sopranos come out unsettled from rehearsals during which the slightest vibrato was tracked down with extreme intransigence, one can gain a better understanding of what it takes to select the vocals for an ensemble, with perfect intonation, always accurate, both on the album and all the more so in concert. Acrobats capable of re-enacting the most complex rhythms with a rare intelligence for language, a key quality to bring sometimes-dark polyphonies to life. A Pythagorean tuning is applied to the medieval repertoire, while tonal music is used starting with Dufay’s last works; Van Nevel sometimes tells the story, a tad mockingly, that any singer that comes in for an audition asking where the piano is… can go back where they came from!

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