Washington, D.C.- Founded in 1989 by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique has won plaudits for performances and recordings of the complete cycle of Beethoven symphonies, two of which they will perform on period instruments in their Washington, D.C. debut on November 19. In 2003 the Orchestra also took part in a highly successful dramatization of the writing of Beethoven's Eroica Symphony for BBC television. Gardiner is also involved in a three-year Beethoven cycle with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Praised by the Guardian for a “transparent, analytical performance [where] harmony and counterpoint gleam, with no aural smudges and not a jot of bookish didacticism,” the orchestra was founded with the aim of bringing stylistic accuracy to the music of the 19th and early 20^th centuries. It has received acclaimed for its Berlioz interpretations, which began with the Symphonie Fantastique, performed and filmed at the former Conservatoire de la Musique in Paris. The Orchestra and Sir John are currently involved in a five-year collaboration with the Opéra Comique in Paris for which they have performed fully-staged operas of Emmanuel Chabrier's L'Etoile (2007), Bizet’s Carmen (2009) and Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande (2010). Other staged performances included Weber’s Romantic opera Le Freischütz in April 2011, which was repeated at the BBC Proms this summer. Fall 2011 tours include performances of works by Beethoven, Stravinsky, Brahms and Bruckner.

The orchestra gave the first modern performances of Berlioz’s rediscovered Messe Solennelle in 1993, and ten years later performed both L'enfance du Christ at the London Proms as well as the first complete performances of Les Troyens at the Châtelet in Paris. Other highlights have included performances last season of Debussy's Pélleas et Mélisand the Opéra Comique in Paris, and a two-year project entitled ‘Brahms: Roots and Memories' with twelve European concerts of two Brahms-based programs.

In May 2007, the orchestra toured Europe with violinist Viktoria Mullova performing a program of Brahms's Violin Concerto and his First and Second Symphonies. December 2007 saw the start of a collaboration between the Monteverdi Choir and the Théâtre National de L’Opéra-comique, Paris, where Sir John conducted eight fully-staged performances of Emmanuel Chabrier's Opera bouffe, L'Etoile. The orchestra performed A Midsummer Night's Dream by Mendelssohn in Holland and Spain in 2005.

Critically acclaimed recordings include all the Schumann symphonies as well as music by Verdi, Weber Mendelssohn and Brahms.

Sir John Eliot Gardiner is considered to be one of the most versatile conductors of our time. Acknowledged as a key figure in the early music revival, he is the founder and artistic director of the Monteverdi Choir, the English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire. Gardiner also appears regularly as guest conductor with the leading European symphony orchestras, including the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics and the London Symphony Orchestra.

Gardiner’s 250-plus recordings have received numerous international awards. Recent projects with this orchestra and the Monteverdi Choir include European tours of Monteverdi’s Vespers, Bach’s Mass in B Minor and Haydn’s oratorios The Creation and The Seasons. Future engagements include performances at Covent Garden, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France and the Czech Philharmonic.

Gardiner was nominated Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1996, and Chevalier de la Légion d‘Honneur in 2010. He received a knighthood in the 1998. In 2008 he was awarded the Royal Academy of Music/ Kohn Foundation’s prestigious Bach Prize.