La Musique des Lumières / Music of the Enlightenment - Limited Edition 30 CD set [Box set, Limited Edition]

Following on from earlier box set releases, this new collection from Harmonia Mundi is another winner!

Previous reviewers have listed the contents of CDs in previous collections. I have personally found this very useful, so I hope the following will be of help if you are considering buying this set. You won't regret it!

CD 1 French Harpsichord Music: Couperin (a) vingt-cinquieme ordre; (b) vingt-sixieme ordre; (c) sixieme ordre (Christophe Rousset, harpsichord). Rameau (a) premiere concert; (b) cinquieme concert (Christophe Rousset, Ryo Terakado, Kaori Uemura

CD 2 The twilight of lamentation: Campra, Requiem (Choeur et Orchestre de la Chapelle Royale, Herreweghe). Pergolesi: Stabat Mater (Anna Prohaska, Bernarda Fink, Akademie fur Alte Musik, Berlin)

CD 3-4 Oratorio: Handel, Solomon (Sarah Connolly, Susan Girton, Carolyn Sampson, Mark Padmore, David Wilson-Johnson, RIAS Kammerchor, Daniel Reuss)

CD 5 The apotheosis of the Baroque concerto: Vivaldi, The Four Seasons (Midori Seiler, Akademie fur Alte Musik, Berlin, Clemens-Maria Neszbaumer); Telemann, Violin Concerto 'The Frogs' (Midori Seiler, Akademie fur Alte Musik, Berlin, Stephan Mai); Bach, Brandengurg Concerto no 6 (Academy of Ancient Music, Richard Egarr); Handel, Organ Concerto Op 4 no 3 (Academy of Ancient Music, Richard Egarr)

CD 6 The conquest of Europe: Tartini (a) Concerto Grosso no. 5; (b) Concerto for violin and orchestra 'a Lunardo Venier' (Enrico Gatti, Ensemble 415, Chiara Banchini). Monn: Concerto for violincello harpsichord and string orchestra (Jean-Guihen Queyras, Freiburger Barockorchester, Petra Mullejans); CPE Bach: Harpsichord Concerto no 5 (Andreas Staier, Freiburger Barockorchester, Petra Mullejans); JC Bach: Concerto for harpsichord, two violins and violincello Op 7 no 5 (London Baroque, Lars-Ulrik Mortensen, Ingrid Seifert, Charles Medlam)

CD 7 From Paris to Vienna: Haydn, Violin Concerto No 1 (Freiburger Barockorchester, Gottfried von der Goltz); Mozart: (a) Concerto K107 no 2 (London Baroque, Lars-Ulrik Mortensen, Ingrid Seifert, Richard Gwilt, Charles Medlam b) Sinfonia Concertante K297-b (Suzanne Kaiser, Ann-Kathrin Bruggemann, Javier Zafra, Erwin Wieringa, Freiburger Barockorchester, Gottfried von der Goltz); Pleyel: Cello Concerto Ben. 106 (Ivan Monighetti, Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin, Stephan Mai)

CD8 The Classical concerto: Mozart: Piano Concerto no 21 K467 (Samerata Salzburg, Stefan Vladar); Beethoven: Piano Concerto no. 2 (Paul Lewis, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Jiri Belohlavek)

CD9 Symphony: Sammartini (a) Sinfonia in D major JC14 (b) Sinfonia in G major (JC30 Ensemble 415, Banchini); WF Bach: Sinfonie in F major Falck 67 (Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin, Stephan Mai); CPE Bach: Orechester-Sinfonie no 1 Wq 183/1 (English Concert, Manze); JC Bach: Symphony in G minor Op 6 no 6 (Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin, Stephan Mai); Boccherini: Symphony 'La casa del Diavolo' (Ensemble 415, Banchini)

CD10 Orchestral performance: Haydn (a) Symphony No 6 'Le Matin'; (b) Symphony No 7 'Le Midi' (Freiburger Barokorchester, Mullejans); Mozart: Symphony No 31 'Paris' (Freiburger Barokorchester, von der Goltz)

CD11 The monuments of Classicism: Haydn: Symphony No 92 'Oxford'; Mozart: Symphone No 41 'Jupiter' (Freiburger Barokorchester, Jacobs)

CD12 The 'Ninth': Beethoven, Symphony No. 9 (La Chapelle Royale, Collegium Vocale, Orchestre des Champs-Elysees, Herreweghe)

CD13-15 The ast glories of the tragedie lyrique: Rameau: Castor et Pollux (Les Arts Florrisants, Christie)

CD 16-17 Gluck's reform: Gluck: Orfeo ed Euridice (RIAS Kammerchor, Freiburger Barokorchester, Jacobs)

CD18-20 The spirit of the people: Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro (Collegium Vocale Ghent, Concerto Koln, Jacobs)

CD21 The Baroque trio sonata: Vivaldi: Sonata in C minor Rv 53; Telemann: Sonata in A minor TWV 41:a3 (Paul Goodwin, Nigel North, Susan Sheppard, John Toll); JS Bach Sonata Sopr'il Soggetto Reale (Janet See, John Holloway, Jaap ter Linden; Davitt Moroney); CPE BAch: Sonata in F Major Wq 154; JCF Bach: Sonata in A major F.VII/2 (London Baroque, Ingrid Seifert, Richard Gwilt, Charles Medlam, Richard Egarr); Schobert: Sonata in F major Op XVI no 4 (Chiara Banchini, Veronique Mejean, Philipp Bosbach, Luciano Sgrizzi)

CD22 From the sonata to the Classical trio: Kuhnau (a) Sonata Terza; 9B0 Sonata Quinta; (c) Sonata Settima (John Butt); Mondonville: Pieces de clavecin avec voix et violin (Nelson, Ritchie Christie); Mozart: (a) Sonata in F major K 376; (b) Sonata in G major K 379 (Banchini, Vesselinova)

CD23 The keyboard trio: Haydn: Trio in C major no 43 (Hobarth, Coin, Cohen); Mozart: Trio in G major K 496 (The Mozartean Players, Richie, Lutzke, Lubin); Beethoven, Trio in C minor Op 1 no 3 (Sepec, Queyras, Staier)

CD 24 The great piano sonatas: Haydn: (a) Sonata in C minor no. 33; Sonata in D major no. 39; Sonata in C major no. 60; Sonata in E flat major no. 62 (Planes)

CD 25 The great piano sonatas: Mozart: (a) Sonata in E flat major K 282; Sonata in C major K 330; Sonata in F major K 332; Sonata in C minor K 457 (Staier)

CD 26 The great piano sonatas: Beethoven: Sonata in F minor no 1 Op 2 no 1; Sonata in D minor no 17 'The Tempest'; Sonata in E flat major no 21 'Waldstein' (Lewis)

CD 27 The birth of the quartet: Telemann: Sonata prima in A major (Freiburger BarokConsort); Mozart: String Quartet in C major no 4 K 157; Haydn: String Quartet in
C major op 33/3 'The Bird' (Jerusalem Quartet); Stamitz: Oboe Quartet in D major Op 8 (Goodwin, Terzetto, McDonald, Rogers, Gough)

CD 28 The great Classical quartets: Mozart: String Quartet in B flat major no 17 K 458; Haydn: String Quartet in D minor Op 76 no 2 (Jerusalem Quartet); Beethoven: String Quartet in B flat major Op 18 no 6 (Tokyo String Quartet)

CD 29 The 'Late Quartets': Beethoven: String Quartet in B flat major no 13 op 130; String Quartet in F major op 16 no 135 (Tokyo String Quartet)

CD30 Sung Texts (Oratorio & Operas)

I am not often driven to comment on a lot of the music I have bought here......but this set is a veritable gem and an unholy bargain - especially since I opted fo buy it even cheaper via an affiliated Amazon supplier!

I am a 'period' string player by profession and can vouch for some fine interpretations amongst those from this set I have had a chance to listen to. A very swift and fresh sounding Beethoven 9 was a pleasure this evening!
Recording quality is impeccable.........and what a treat to have such copious programme notes in a 230 (!) page booklet AND all the libretti etc on a cd rom. Yes the print IS small and in more than one language....but come on-this is a beautifully presented effort for the money? More information is freely available on the net and I have a little slim plastic bookreading glass for small print. It's still easier to read than the cooking instructions on microwave meals!

So.....musically this is a cracking set and I would have no hesitation recommending both to afficianados AND newcomers wanting an intelligently put together taste of this fascinating, exciting and rich musical epoch.

This is a musical journey that illustrates how and why the 18th century was a cornerstone between two musical periods (roughly, from baroque to classical). It starts with French solo harpsichord and ends with Beethoven string quartets. In between, there are many different pieces, symphonies, oratorios, operas,... and all are enjoyable interpretations.
The box in itself is beautiful. It may be a bit misleading because it says "30 CD": there 29 CDs of music + 1 that contains the sung texts.
The booklet is written in French, English and German. It does contain interesting information, but it's indeed a bit difficult to read because the fonts are very small.

This is a very interesting and nice box !