Page 676 - Aldeburgh Festival 2022 FINAL COVERAGE BOOK

The operatic composer and violinist Jean-Baptiste Lully worked in the
court of King Louis XIV and was an ambitious figure in court and operatic
music, dominating French opera in the 17th century.

As well as being known for rising up influential ranks impressively quickly,
Lully is thought to have had quite the colourful private life, embarking on
affairs with both men and women – to the extent it got him in hot water
with the King.

Lully died relatively young, succumbing to a fatal infection in a wound on
his foot, inflicted by his own conducting stick.

Jean-Baptiste Lully. Picture: Getty

7. Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)

Corelli was a contemporary of both Lully and Handel (see above), moving
in the same sexually-fluid circles as them. And like them, he was
associated with gay clergyman, Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni.

The Baroque composer and violinist is known for his chamber sonatas
and concerti grossi, and has gone down in history for refusing to play a
section of Handel’s oratorio, The Triumph Of Time And Truth, because a
violin note went higher than Corelli believed appropriate for the
instrument.

Corelli: Christmas Concerto, from The Swingle Si
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