Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Monteverdi Choir, Wigmore Hall

Sir John Eliot Gardiner is both an extraordinary conductor and a vital galvaniser of the country's musical life. In 1964, while an undergraduate at Cambridge, he formed the Monteverdi Choir, now one of the most important period vocal ensembles in the world. Two years later, they made their professional debut at Wigmore Hall, and launched their now five decade-long career. Now, finally, they are making their long-awaited return to the venue, joined by the English Baroque Soloists, also founded by Gardiner. Tenors Krystian Adam and Peter Davoren will take the lead, along with soprano Francesca Aspromonte.
The line-up is a diverse one, stretching from the very beginning of the baroque to high romanticism. The concert opens with four pieces by Monteverdi, including three short magridals and the extended operatic scene Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, which contains some of the first (and indeed finest) pizzicato in seventeenth-century music. Then the musicians will move forward to a trio of songs by Schubert, including the four-part Gebet. The night closes with the Liebeslieder-Waltzer of Brahms, a composer with who Gardiner has come to understand like no-one else. To see the Monteverdi Choir is always an event, but this particular combination looks to surprise and delight.