A brilliant and innovative English conductor who has worked with some of the
world's greatest orchestras, John Eliot Gardiner has changed people's attitudes
to classical music with his dynamic and even aggressive approach. The Monteverdi
Choir he set up early in his career revolutionised what he believed was a
complacent and bland attitude to choral singing, determined to replace technical
perfection with raw passion, performing Baroque music with period instruments.
Born in Dorset in the south west of England, his love of music stemmed from
singing in the local church choir. ...