Sir John Eliot Gardiner celebrates his 80th birthday on 20 April this year. The world-famous conductor can look back on a rich musical life. Born in Dorset in southern England, Gardiner grew up in a musical home. He gained his first experience at the conductor's podium at the age of 15. While studying history at Cambridge, he founded the Monteverdi Choir in 1964. He made his London opera debut in 1969 with Mozart's Magic Flute.
Gardiner celebrated his greatest musical successes with performances and recordings of early music in historical performance practice. His legendary world tour with Monteverdi's Marian Vespers in 1989 and the performance of all sacred Bach cantatas in the 250th year of the composer's death are just two examples. His Bach biography Musik für die Himmelsburg (2016), in which the experience of the performing musician happily combines with his stupendous knowledge, also attracted international attention. His new book is entitled "Monteverdi and his constellation - The intertraffic of mind".