EMS "The Rise and Fall of JB Lully" 30/6/2024

[AuntDaisy]

Lully on the 30th of June - it'll be interesting to see which pieces they choose.

The Rise and Fall of JB Lully - The Early Music Show

As part of Radio 3’s programming around LGBTQ+ Pride, Hannah French is joined by musicologists Suzanne Aspden and Berta Joncus to explore the life and career of Jean-Baptiste Lully, who shot to fame at the court of King Louis XIV.

Lully was an Italian violinist, guitarist and dancer, who caught the eye of the young King when they danced together in a ballet in 1653. Before long, he became an indispensable part of the Paris and Versailles music scenes, entertaining the royal family for the next thirty years and earning a very good salary from doing so. Lully was bisexual, and for many years his relationships with both men and women were never questioned – there was an implicit acceptance to same-sex desires among the upper echelons of 17th-century Parisian society.

But in 1683, Queen Marie-Thérèse died, and the king's secret marriage to Madame de Maintenon changed everything. Devotion came to the fore at court, the king's enthusiasm for opera dissipated, he became increasingly annoyed by what he now considered Lully's dissolute lifestyle, and everything began to unravel…

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0020hvv

[AuntDaisy]

I enjoyed parts of this EMS, but found it rather chatty - perhaps two musicologists was one too many?
The earlier musical pieces could have been longer...
Did anyone else listen?


Lully has been a regular topic for EMS, including...
2005 "Lully The Bohemian Connection"
2008 "Lully's Paris"
2009 "Lully Lullay"
2010 "Lully's Armide"
2011 "Lully's Bellerophon"
2013 "Lully and Louis"
2015 "Lully and Charpentier"

[smittims]

Sorry, no. I should have done of course, and would have found it rewarding. I don't know his work, though I cherish an old disc of the Miserere, a most beautiful piece.

[LMcD]

I enjoyed parts of this EMS, but found it rather chatty - perhaps two musicologists was one too many?
The earlier musical pieces could have been longer...
Did anyone else listen?


Lully has been a regular topic for EMS, including...
2005 "Lully The Bohemian Connection"
2008 "Lully's Paris"
2009 "Lully Lullay"
2010 "Lully's Armide"
2011 "Lully's Bellerophon"
2013 "Lully and Louis"
2015 "Lully and Charpentier"

I'm afraid the chat-to-music ratio led me to switch off after 15 minutes or so.

[MickyD]

No, I haven't listened to it yet, but it's a pity if there was so much nattering. A real turn-off for me. Had they enlisted an expert such as Christophe Rousset, it would have been worth the chat.

[oddoneout]

I enjoyed parts of this EMS, but found it rather chatty - perhaps two musicologists was one too many?
The earlier musical pieces could have been longer...
Did anyone else listen?


Lully has been a regular topic for EMS, including...
2005 "Lully The Bohemian Connection"
2008 "Lully's Paris"
2009 "Lully Lullay"
2010 "Lully's Armide"
2011 "Lully's Bellerophon"
2013 "Lully and Louis"
2015 "Lully and Charpentier"

I had intended to listen, but other things got in the way. Perhaps the greater "chat" element was the inevitable result of the theme the programme was "exploring", which was more about personal life/social history and less about the music?

[AuntDaisy]

No, I haven't listened to it yet, but it's a pity if there was so much nattering. A real turn-off for me. Had they enlisted an expert such as Christophe Rousset, it would have been worth the chat.

The 2011 "Lully's Bellerophon" had a fascinating Catherine Bott interview with Christophe Rousset (inc. CR finding missing pages of the score in a bookshop in Paris), plus long extracts.

[MickyD]

The 2011 "Lully's Bellerophon" had a fascinating Catherine Bott interview with Christophe Rousset (inc. CR finding missing pages of the score in a bookshop in Paris), plus long extracts.

That was a period when the programme was well worth listening to.

[AuntDaisy]

That was a period when the programme was well worth listening to.

Yes.
I listened to the Bellérophon & Armide programmes. Christophe Rousset was absolutely fascinating (& forced me to order Bellérophon), Hugo Reyne was new to me but very interesting.
Why can't EMS invite Catherine Bott & Lucie Skeaping back?

[MickyD]

If only! I loved their different styles.
Hugo Reyne has been conducting in France for many years but sadly isn't too much known elsewhere. He has done some fine Rameau recordings. I first learned of him when he brought out a mammoth 4CD box of the complete "Musique pour les Soupirs du Roy" by Delalande on Harmonia Mundi, long since deleted. He's a great recorder player, too.

[AuntDaisy]

If only! I loved their different styles.
Hugo Reyne has been conducting in France for many years but sadly isn't too much known elsewhere. He has done some fine Rameau recordings. I first learned of him when he brought out a mammoth 4CD box of the complete "Musique pour les Soupirs du Roy" by Delalande on Harmonia Mundi, long since deleted. He's a great recorder player, too.

Thanks MickyD, I wish you wouldn't keep highlighting interesting looking CDs

I'm guessing this is a re-issue, but it's also out of print.

[vinteuil]

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... sorry, Micky - I find Hugo Reyne terribly sludgy in his performances. Which is a pity, cos he has recorded a lot of interesting repertoire



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[MickyD]

Thanks MickyD, I wish you wouldn't keep highlighting interesting looking CDs

I'm guessing this is a re-issue, but it's also out of print.

Yes, that was indeed a reissue. Luckily for you, there's a newer version of extracts from Vincent Dumestre, which I hear is very good indeed.

https://www.amazon.fr/Soupers-du-Roy-Vincent-Dumestre/dp/B09DFNN4VV/ref=mp_s_a_1_fkmr0_1?crid=17CA62FU38R0X&dib=eyJ2Ij oiMSJ9.-JqN_iVQNjWF3rRFTkei0IXzO_8yPIAsv2lSXjdgy61UiiRe9gG 1CElCjR3fAZNMDKk6lcfu5uA8ZoPGm7GfawkFrPvZNBGT2McJF bBiZCMurZvyzozfZeLeQfrUTPHQ.WK4Me1cmXU-3_K20ZqOEPraeUaaVsAI-mP-4IaFrTMk&dib_tag=se&keywords=delalande+dumestre&qi d=1719925661&sprefix=delalande+dumestre%2Caps%2C91 &sr=8-1-fkmr0#

[MickyD]

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... sorry, Micky - I find Hugo Reyne terribly sludgy in his performances. Which is a pity, cos he has recorded a lot of interesting repertoire



.

I must confess I haven't listened to his discs in a while. If I remember correctly, he is the only person to have recorded all of the Rameau rarity 'La Naissance d'Osiris'.
He recorded a "Les Indes Galantes" too, which was well received in France. He often appears at music festivals over here, too.

[vinteuil]

He often appears at music festivals over here, too.

... yes : I used to meet him at gatherings of the Réseau Européen de Musique Ancienne (REMA) at Ambronay and elsewhere...

https://www.rema-eemn.net/fr/a-propos/

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