The seventeenth century court of Louis XIV had a taste for performances by child prodigies.
In 1670 when Elisabeth Claude Jacquet de la Guerre played the harpsichord to the king at the age of 5, she impressed the court so much she was invited to live in the household of his mistress Madame de Montespan. By her mid teens she'd established herself as a performer and composer of great repute.
Henrietta Otley speaks to Leah Stuttard and Anne Allen, both members of the early music group Maniera, and to the harpsichordist Carole Cerasi. She recently won a gramophone award for her recording of Jacquet.
