As contemporary as any composer today: Sir John Eliot Gardiner on Monteverdi

Ahead of an appearance at London’s Cadogan Hall, the Swedish mezzo-soprano talks about her love for French and German song, and combining intimate performances with opera singing on a much larger scale.

Renowned harpsichordist Jean Rondeau presents a new view of Bach’s Goldberg Variations at this year’s Bachfest Schaffhausen, including in arrangement for Baroque ensemble, and as a new composition for piano, percussion and electronics inspired by the cycle.

The young Polish harpsichordist with the Cohaere Ensemble talks about the Early music scene in Poland, her investigations into music of 18th-century Danzig, one of Europe’s most cosmopolitan cities.

Renowned Japanese conductor returns to the Singapore Symphony Orchestra to perform unusual music from Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda – an influence on Robert Schumann, who described him as “unique in the world of symphonies”.

We talk to Baroque violinist and folk fiddler Ida Meidell about being at the intersection of folk music and Early music, and the richness of the wider scene across Scandinavia.

Lute player and guitarist Élodie Brzustowski talks about the challenges of the two-metre long theorbo, rediscovering guitar music of the 1830s, and the multifaceted Early music scene in France.