john eliot gardiner bach cantata pilgrimage

'For every familiar work in the Bach cantata canon, Gardiner and company introduced audiences across Europe and beyond to a dozen others that they had never heard before through their Bach Cantata Pilgrimage.the performers capture the religious dimensions of the little known early Leipzig Cantata BWV 179.The comprehension of Bachs music and its links with Lutheran theology are further underlined by Magdalena Kozená, who continues to articulate Bachs vivid imagery with eloquence and subtlety. 'A revealing diary of an ambitious pilgrimage.the Monteverdi Choir, typically bright and incisivethe four soloists matching them in those is the Czech mezzo, Magdelena Koená, who wins first honours with her superb singing.moving on the one hand, brilliant on the other.' (Gramophone) Whittling all this down to a 'top ten' seems almost facile and inevitably excludes many fantastic recordings, but we tried! Below are ten that we think really are the best of the best - and of course you can also browse John Eliot Gardiner's full discography.Czech mezzo soprano Magdalena Koená leads a top line-up of soloists for three of Bach's most admired Cantatas (BWV 113,179 & 199), with Sir John Eliot Gardiner conducting the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists in the beautiful St Davids Cathedral in Wales. His recordings of the former's complete symphonies on period instruments have drawn further critical acclaim, and in the 1990s he helped to revive, through performances and recordings, the latter's recently rediscovered Messe solennelle. His Bach Cantata Pilgrimage concert series around the Millennium gave rise to a complete set of recordings, and there have also been highly-regarded accounts of the Passions, motets and more, cementing Gardiner's reputation as an interpreter of early music.īut Gardiner wears another equally significant hat - with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique he champions Classical and Romantic repertoire, in particular Beethoven and Berlioz. The most obvious thing that springs to mind in connection with John Eliot Gardiner is surely Bach - and his award haul for Bach alone would be the envy of many a conductor. As the influential conductor turns 80, we look back at some of his most acclaimed and significant recordings.

Some tastes and fashions may have changed since John Eliot Gardiner first made his mark on the UK's music scene in the mid-1960s (some earlier photos of him feature levels of denim that might be considered brave nowadays.), but his artistry undeniably continues to inspire.

John eliot gardiner bach cantata pilgrimage