What does a concert at the court of the Kangxi Emperor (reigned 1662–1722) sound like? Find out from this live performance presented by Divertissements Chinois, here at the V&A.

In 1601 the Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci (1552–1610) was invited to visit the court of the Wanli Emperor (reigned 1572–1620). One of the gifts Ricci brought was a harpsichord which proved to be in his own words ‘sensational’. For the next two centuries, as numerous points of contact developed between China and Europe, music was a constant witness and musicians travelled in both directions across continents.

This concert is supported by the Continuo Foundation