With Lucie Skeaping.
2: The Descent of Orpheus, the Rise of Charpentier. Nymphs, shepherds and all things pastoral were all the rage in late 17th-century French culture. They skipped among the heroes of most operas and plays, commenting on the action and filling the stage with smocks and straw hats. Today's programme features Charpentier's chamber opera La
Descente d'Orphee aux Enters, his one and only surviving instrumental sonata, and the mass Salve Regina , written for his wealthy patron. Plus another visit to Corinth, where things are hotting up at the court of King Creon, in a further excerpt from Charpentier's opera Medee.