The Early Music Show - Opera Profiles - Opera Profile: Lully's Armide

Lucie Skeaping presents a profile of Lully's 17th Century operatic masterpiece "Armide" with French conductor Hugo Reyne highlighting some of its qualities and innovations. Jean-Baptiste Lully almost single-handedly created French opera, and his Tragedie-Lyrique (tragic opera) "Armide" about a sorceress and her love for the valiant hero Renaud, was the culmination of a long and fruitful collaboration with librettist Philippe Quinault. "Armide" was instantly recognised as a masterpiece, remarkable not only for its attractive music, and affective dramatic architecture, as for its genius in setting the French language to music, and the psychological depths portrayed by its characters. As part of the BBC year long celebration of opera, and the Early Music Show's monthly profile of important Baroque masterworks, Lucie Skeaping examines "Armide" with contributions from Lully champion and conductor Hugo Reyne. Key moments from the opera are performed from CD by Philippe Herreweghe and Collegium Vocale.