Sir John Eliot Gardiner

Sir John Eliot Gardiner, one of the most versatile conductors of our time, is acknowledged as a key figure in the early music revival. Founder and artistic director of three ensembles – the Monteverdi Choir, the English Baroque Soloists, and the Orchestre R.volutionnaire et Romantique – he also appears regularly with Europe’s most important symphony orchestras, including the LSO, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Royal Concertgebouw, Czech Philharmonic, and the Orchestre National de France, as well as at the Royal Opera House (London), and La Fenice (Venice). The extent of Gardiner’s repertoire is illustrated by over 250 recordings he has made for major record companies, and by numerous international awards including Gramophone’s Special Achievement Award for live recordings of the complete church cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach, released on the label Soli Deo Gloria (SDG) that he established in 2006. SDG’s catalogue now includes recordings of, among others, Bach’s St John Passion, Brandenburg Concertos, and complete Motets, a Brahms symphony cycle, and a cappella recordings with the Monteverdi Choir.