News
"Portrait of the artist: John Eliot Gardiner, conductor" from the Guardian (6 Oct 2009)
'Being accepted is the
biggest challenge. Every time you stand in front of a new orchestra, you are on
trial' What
got you started? IN SHORT Born: Career: Founded the Monteverdi
Choir and the English Baroque Soloists. His album Bach's Brandenburg Concertos
is out now on SDG. Low
point:
"Being called up at short notice in 1969 to conduct the BBC Northern
orchestra. I hadn't had time to learn the scores."
The
fact that music was woven into my family life. We sang grace before meals, and
we had a choir. Music wasn't something arty or exceptional – it was just
what we did.
It
was on 5 March 1964, at 4.10pm, when I conducted the Monteverdi vespers for the
first time in King's College Chapel,
The
security of a nine-to-five job. Being a musician is precarious, and the people
who employ you – however enthusiastic they sound – are capricious.
A
Beethoven symphony, numbers two or four. They encapsulate the vast contours of
one's life – the high points and the moments of gloom and distress.
Only
do it if there's a flame inside you that just won't go out.
My
Cousin Vinny. It makes me hoot with laughter.
Getting
accepted as a serious musician. Every time you stand in front of a new
orchestra as a guest conductor, you're on trial.
Learn
the grammar and do the chores. It was implicit in the work of my teacher,
[French professor] Nadia Boulanger. She taught us to ask ourselves what right
we had to call ourselves musicians.
Aural
bombardment, whether it's Muzak in lifts or the sound of aeroplanes.
Farmer.
Classical
ballet. The rhythm of the music doesn't line up with the dancing.
Anything
by Goya. He sums up everything you want to know about his period – a time
of revolution, Beethoven and the horrors of war.
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