At the beginning of the 1990s, great classical albums were released in quick succession that radically broke with the listening habits that Herbert von Karajan and Karl Richter had established. René Jacobs served an astonished audience a slender George Frideric Handel with “Giulio Cesare”, William Christie and John Eliot Gardiner anchored Jean-Philippe Rameau in the standard repertoire with “Castor & Pollux” and “Les Boréades”, which had previously not been performed, and Philippe Herreweghe cleared out the clutter JS Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, John Eliot Gardiner proved Claudio Monteverdi’s “Marienvespers” and “Orfeo” to be milestones. Jordi Savall made the obsolete viol a mainstream instrument, Andreas Staier amazed people with the drum sound of the fortepiano with Joseph Haydn and Franz Schubert, and Paul van Nevel explored vocal music before Monteverdi. Then, in quick succession – it was the high point of this decade, which was so rich in musical highlights – Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Gardiner published their revolutionary versions of the Beethoven symphonies.
Historical performance practice in classical culture
