After being brought aware of John Eliot Gardiner's Bach Cantata Pilgrimage a long while ago, I've finally started reading his book Music In The Castle of Heaven. I'm only a couple of chapters into it, but it is already very exciting. It even got a good review from Philip Pullman!
I would honestly rather spend the rest of today lounging around and reading, but unfortunately I have to build more guitars!
Below are some photos a new concert model that I am working on. Indian rosewood back. Indian rosewood/Alaska yellow cedar sides. European spruce top.
On a similar note, Here is a recording of Gardiner conducting Schumann's first symphony. Schumann is often disparaged for having dense and muddy orchestration. Composers/conductors such as Mahler have even gone as far as to re-orchestrate his symphonies in an attempt to lighten things up. Gardiner maintains that when performed on period instruments and with enough liveliness, the original orchestration is just fine!