Album: Jordi Savall, Hespèrion XXI, La Capella Reial De Catalunya Jeanne D'Arc: Batailles & Prisons (Alia Vox)

This latest of Jordi Savall's historical projects follows his usual meticulous manner: lavishly presented in a hardback book featuring colour reproductions and essays, the two CDs offer an exhaustively researched account of the story of Joan of Arc, accompanied by early-music arrangements of period compositions rendered by Hespèrion XXI.

Savall strives for imaginative representation: Dufay's "Veni Sancte Spiritus" is sung by two sopranos and a countertenor, representing the voices of Saints Catherine, Margaret and Michael, from whom Joan claimed to have received instruction; and the battle fanfares of the French and English armies are ingeniously tuned a semitone apart.

Download: Veni Sancte Spiritus; La Pucelle; Battle of Orleans