It's HIP to be demanding

Pliable quotes the autobiography of the late John Drummond, who was the BBC Controller of Music and director of the Proms, on Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Apparently, Sir John is a bit on an enfant terrible. To wit:

One year Gardiner persuaded me to accept a performance of the Bach B minor Mass without soloists, using members of his own excellent Monteverdi Choir for the solos. Much as I admired the choir, I was not entirely sure that individual members could carry such major parts in such a big building. However, I need not have worried. Without reference to the Proms office or any regard for the financial implications, Gardiner changed his mind and booked a roster of five distinguished soloists which cost me thousands. He was quite unapologetic, and I was considered impertinent to have questioned his judgement. His judgement was probably correct; his manner of achieving it was unacceptable.

You know, this really surprises me. I always assumed, I suppose, that the HIP crowd was a fuzzy-sweater bunch, sitting around over a fine port, discussing the merits of real catgut and witty banter about Beethoven's metronome markings. Or you know, telling amusing anecdotes about the singer who flubbed the opening bit to Monteverdi's Vespro.

Apparently not. Apparently, they're just like everyone else.