Czech Philharmonic‿John Eliot Gardiner | Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir John Eliot Gardiner, artistic director of the Monteverdi Choir, the English Baroque Soloists and the Orchester Révolutionnaire et Romantique, has been etched in the minds of listeners as a major actor in the process of reviving interest in early music and a pioneer of historically informed interpretation. A regular guest of the world’s leading orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic, he performs compositions from the 17th to the 20th century.
Expanding Gardiner’s repertoire into extensive soups are award-winning recordings that Gardiner made for renowned music publishers with his ensembles, or as a host of world-renowned orchestras (e.g. with the Vienna Philharmonic or the London Symphony Orchestra). In addition to Renaissance and Baroque compositions, this list includes works by WA Mozart, R. Schumann, H. Berlioz, E. Elgar or K. Weill. His greatest achievements in this field include two Grammys, a Diapason d’or award, and the fact that he has won more Gramofon awards than any other living artist.
With his ensembles, Gardiner regularly performs in prominent world concert halls (e.g. Lincoln Center or Royal Albert Hall) and at festivals such as the Salzburg, Berlin and Lucerne Festivals. In 2021, Gardiner made his sixtieth appearance at the BBC Proms, with works by GF Handel and JS Bach; in 2017, the 450th anniversary of C. Monteverdi’s birth, his ensemble won a Royal Philharmonic Society award and Gardiner was named conductor of the year by Operwelt magazine.
In the role of an opera conductor, Gardiner performed at the Vienna State Opera, Milan’s La Scala, the Paris National Opera, the Royal Opera and the Teatro del Maggio Musicale in Florence. Between 1983 and 1988 he was artistic director of the Lyon Opera, where he founded a new orchestra.
In 2013, Gardiner’s book was published Music in the Castle in the Sky: A Portrait of Johann Sebastian Bach, awarded the French Prix des Muses awarded by the Singer-Polignac Foundation. Between 2014 and 2017, Gardiner was the first ever president of the Leipzig BachArchive.
In addition to a number associated with his work, Sir John Eliot Gardiner received honorary doctorates from the Royal College of Music, the New England Conservatory of Music, the Universities of Lyon and Cremona, and from St Andrews and King’s College, Cambridge, where he himself studied and where he was honored with the title of Honorary Fellow. He received the same degree from London’s King’s College in the British Academy. The Royal Academy of Music awarded him the title of Honorary Member in 2008 with the prestigious Bach Prize. In 2005 he was awarded the Order of Merit by the German Federal Government and six years later he was awarded the title of Chevalier of the Legion. In his homeland, he was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 1990, and in 1998 he received a knighthood from the Queen for services to music.