Sir John Eliot Gardiner chats Bach

Last month at the glitzy Gramophone awards, Sir John Eliot Gardiner was honoured with the Special Achievement Award for his work with the Monteverdi Choir, on their ‘Bach Cantata Pilgrimage’.

10 years ago, the conductor, the choir and the English Baroque Soloists embarked on a mission to perform all of JS Bach’s cantatas on the appropriate feast day. The performances took place in churches, abbeys and cathedrals throughout Northern Europe.  The trip’s legacy has been captured on 27 two-disc volumes, a heroic feat honoured by Gardiner's Gramophone award.

After the ceremony, Classic FM’s Lucy Coward caught up with the conductor to ask how the idea came together.

Listen to our John Eliot Gardiner interview