Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner John Eliot Gardiner and Bach

I've been told by a renown church musician that Gardiner is a terrific conductor and especially so for Bach's music. Gardiner wrote a terrifically reviewed and recently published book about Bach called Bach:Music in the Castle of Heaven.

Here is a 1.5 hour video by Gardiner about Bach called Bach: A Passionate Life that I just found by completely random YouTube surfing. Based on the first half hour I've listened to so far it also seems extraordinarily good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiQbppQq54E

I will definitely watch that one. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

I have two versions of my favorite piece of music (Bach's B-Minor Mass), one conducted by Gardiner and one by Philippe Herreweghe. While I love both of them, I have to say that my heart lies with Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir. They bring a passion to this work that is unmatched, and Gardiner's love of Bach is self-evident. (Of course, I still have one or two other versions to check out! )

Thanks for that. I rate JEG highly. His cantata cycle, taken from a year's set of touring performances is riveting: you get the extra dimension of live performances (suitably doctored with post performance edits). Highly recommended. On his own label.

Thanks for mentioning this video; looking forward to watching it.

I gave his new book to myself as xmas present, but I've only read the preface so far. Will be interesting to see how it compares to Christoph Wolff's "Bach - The Learned Musician".

I'm a big fan of Gardiner. Thanks for sharing!!