Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique / Sir John Eliot Gardiner

Kick-Off to Berlioz’s 150th Anniversary Next Year

Sir John Eliot Gardiner is an authority in the music world. He has written history as a conductor and ensemble founder, and has always had the ambition to perform the music of past eras on authentic instruments with an awareness of historical performance practice, so that listeners can »savour the unique aromas of each individual composer«. Gardiner founded his own ensembles to this end back in the 1960s and 70s, and 1990 saw the birth of a new formation, the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, for the music of later periods. With Gardiner at their helm, this ensemble plays a purely Berlioz programme to mark the opening of the new Elbphilharmonie season. The music of the French composer, who ushered in a new era with his path-breaking »Symphonie fantastique« in 1830, is full of revolutionary excitement and lush romanticism. Tonight’s star guest is American mezzo Joyce DiDonato, who has the same ability as the conductor for effortlessly feeling her way into specific musical styles, and is at home on all the world’s great (opera) stages.