Spectacular wedding of Ferdinando de'Medici and Christine of Lorraine still impresses after 500 years [audio 30min]

Bridget Kendall looks at three of the most colourful and flamboyant political and royal summits in history, and examines the role music played in such events. Part 2: The scale of the spectacle organised in Florence for the wedding celebrations of the Grand Duke, Ferdinando de'Medici, and the French Princess, Christine of Lorraine, still impresses five centuries later. This rich musical feast required the combined efforts of the entire artistic, intellectual and administrative forces of Tuscany to create a month of pageantry, political ceremonial and unequalled theatrical achievement.