Erato

The quality control on the set I got is a bit off. Many of the CD's will only register and play on my best player, which corrects for that type of problem.It's a pretty good set for the more advanced listener looking for less common pieces. The quality of the sound and performance is adequate, but very few pieces grab my attention for more than a few seconds. Bought it to hear some more unusual music, and it definitely met that goal.I would classify it as good "generic" classical music.

I have only listened to a few of the discs so far but already I am completely enamoured with this box set. This is worth several times the cost if you ask me.

Very important compilation box. Worth including in your collection.

This is definitely an eclectic mix of genres and performances (see the list below). However, all are excellent.EratoCD 1 MAURICE ANDRÉ Baroque Trumpet ConcertosCD 2 AMSTERDAM BAROQUE, ORCHESTRA/TON KOOPMAN, J.S. Bach: Orchestral Suites, BWV 1066–69CD 3 MARIE-CLAIRE ALAIN J.S. Bach: Organ WorksCD 4 ALAIN LOMBARD GILBERT AMY Berlioz: OverturesCD 5 JULIA MIGENES PLÁCIDO DOMINGO LORIN MAAZEL Bizet: Carmen (excerpts)CD 6 PIERRE BOULEZ Boulez: Le Visage nuptial, Le Soleil des eaux, Figures, Doubles, PrismesCD 7 PIERRE DEL VESCOVO MICHEL PORTAL PIERRE AMOYAL FRÉDÉRIC LODÉON MICHEL DALBERTO Brahms: Trios opp.40 & 114CD 8 ENGLISH BAROQUE SOLOISTS JOHN ELIOT GARDINER Campra: RequiemCD 9 DAWN UPSHAW KENT NAGANO Canteloube: Chants d’Auvergne (excerpts) Emmanuel: Chansons bourguignonnes (excerpts)CD 10 LES ARTS FLORISSANTS WILLIAM CHRISTIE Charpentier: Médée (excerpts) In Nativitatem Domini Canticum (excerpts) Purcell: Dido and Aeneas (excerpts)CD 11 MUSICA POLYPHONICA LOUIS DEVOS Charpentier: 9 Leçons de Ténèbres (excerpts)CD 12 QUATUOR VIA NOVA Chausson · Roussel: String QuartetsCD 13 NIKOLAI LUGANSKY Chopin: ÉtudesCD 14 OLIVIER BAUMONT Couperin: Harpsichord WorksCD 15 ORCHESTRE DE LA SUISSE ROMANDE ARMIN JORDAN Dukas: L’Apprenti Sorcier La Péri (excerpts) Symphony in C majorCD 16 MICHEL CORBOZ MAURICE DURUFLÉ Fauré · Duruflé: RequiemsCD 17 MARIE-CLAIRE ALAIN Franck: Organ WorksCD 18 HÉLÈNE GRIMAUD DAVID ZINMAN Gershwin · Ravel: Piano ConcertosCD 19 JOHN ELIOT GARDINER Gluck: Iphigénie en Aulide (highlights)CD 20 AMSTERDAM BAROQUE ORCHESTRA/TON KOOPMAN Handel: Organ Concertos HWV 311, 292, 294, 291, 290, 289 & 293CD 21 MAURICE ANDRÉ MSTISLAV ROSTROPOVICH YVONNE LORIOD Tomasi · Honegger · Milhaud · Jolivet: ConcertosCD 22 MARIE-CLAIRE ALAIN JEAN SOURISSE Liszt: Missa choralis · Via crucisCD 23 JEAN-FRANÇOIS PAILLARD Lully: Te Deum · Dies iraeCD 24 YVONNE LORIOD PIERRE BOULEZ MARIUS CONSTANT Messiaen: Couleurs de la cité céleste · Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum · L’AscensionCD 25 OLIVIER MESSIAEN Messiaen: Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte-TrinitéCD 26 DARIUS MILHAUD CLAUDE HELFFER DAVID ROBERTSON Milhaud: Symphonies 4 & 8 “Rhodanienne” Piano Concerto 4 · BalladeCD 27 LES ARTS FLORISSANTS WILLIAM CHRISTIE Monteverdi · D’India · Charpentier · Landi: Vocal WorksCD 28 MICHEL CORBOZ Monteverdi: Selva morale e spiritualeCD 29 LILY LASKINE JEAN-PIERRE RAMPAL JACQUES LANCELOT JEAN-FRANÇOIS PAILLARD Mozart: Flute and Harp & Clarinet ConcertosCD 30 DANIEL BARENBOIM Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro (highlights)CD 31 LES ARTS FLORISSANTS WILLIAM CHRISTIE Mozart: RequiemCD 32 MARIE-CLAIRE ALAIN JEAN-JACQUES KANTOROW Poulenc · Duruflé · AlainCD 33 ORCHESTRE NATIONAL DE FRANCE MSTISLAV ROSTROPOVICH Prokofiev: Symphonies 5 & 7CD 34 MONTEVERDI CHOIR JOHN ELIOT GARDINER Purcell: Come, ye Sons of Art Music for the Funeral of Queen MaryCD 35 SOPHIE DANEMANPAUL AGNEW/WILLIAM CHRISTIE Rameau: La GuirlandeCD 36 SAMUEL MAGAD/CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA/DANIEL BARENBOIM Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade · Tsar SaltanCD 37 JEAN MARTINON Roussel: Bacchus et Ariane Suites 1 & 2 Le Festin de l’araignéeCD 38 MARIA JOÃO PIRES Schubert: Piano Sonata D894 · Fantasy D940CD 39 KURT SANDERLING MSTISLAV ROSTROPOVICH Shostakovich: Symphony No.15 RayokCD 40 LONDON SMPHONY ORCHESTRA/KRIVINE Tchaikovsky · Sibelius: Violin ConcertosCD 41 MARC MINKOWSKI Stradella: San Giovanni BattistaCD 42 PIERRE BOULEZ Stravinsky: Pulcinella Le Chant du RossignolCD 43 PIERRE AMOYAL Tartini: Violin SonatasCD 44 LENINGRAD PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA EVGENY MRAVINSKY Tchaikovsky · Mussorgsky · Glinka Glazunov: Orchestral worksCD 45 JEAN-PIERRE RAMPAL I SOLISTI VENETI CLAUDIO SCIMONE Vivaldi: Flute ConcertosCD 46 NEW COLLEGE CHOIR, OXFORD EDWARD HIGGINBOTTOM Choral WorksCD 47 SCOTT ROSS J.S. Bach · D. Scarlatti · Handel Soler: ConcertosCD 48 SUMI JO Virtuoso AriasCD 49 SUSAN GRAHAM French Operetta AriasCD 50 ANNE AZÉMA BOSTON CAMERATA JOEL COHEN Tristan et Iseult

The music material is top notch, performers are well known and the sound quality is very good, but not exceptional. However, the package presentation leaves much to be desired. All CDs are packaged in uniform green cardboard sleeves that look cheap and are hard to read.The beauty of boxed sets is to have miniature album covers at your fingertips. This collection is not like that, it is best enjoyed in a darkened room.

Warners brought out their Erato, Das Alte Werk, and Teldec boxes at the same time. I'm crazy about all three. They are all famous labels with good talent and very high recording standards. To a certain extent they could be thought of as niche players plugging the holes in the repertoire neglected by the big boys. If you have a lot of classical music, but are getting a bit tired of the standard Public Radio type fare, take a look at the disc listings of this (and the other) sets. If you have little of it and want to try some new stuff, I can recommend this highly. The box is pretty flimsy (mine was cracked when it got to me) and the sleeves are bare bones and identical except for artist and tracks. But the music is wonderful. These boxes shouldn't be too expensive, however. I got mine for around $150. I'd try to get it for that or under. It's a weird mix of time periods, styles, etc. Frankly, that's why I love it. If you would like more of a "theme" to a box, this probably isn't for you.

While not as cheap as some of the other set anthologies now on the market, this (along with the Das Alte Werke) box sets were two I had to pick up. Back in my LP days, I scoured the local classical music stores for new works on the Erato label, and grew to love some of their lesser known composers such as Charpentier and Lully. This box includes some of those disks, as well as several other lovely pieces that were seldom, or sometimes never, recorded by other labels. The recordings by the Erato engineers are excellent, with great clarity and dynamic range considering the time. The remastering to digital is superb, and some of these disks are in heavy rotation in my listening cycle. There's a few titles I will listen to rarely, sure, after the first pass through all fifty disks, but there's a considerable number that will be listened to many times.The box is more expensive than many other anthologies, but Erato was an important label back in the 80s, leading the way with some great recordings of French composers (and others, to be fair). While more expensive for the box, the per-disk price is still between $3 and $4 per CD, so that's budget price by any reckoning. I absolutely adore this collection, both eclectic and intriguing, and the quality of the recordings makes it a personal favorite. I can't recommend this enough to classical music fans, especially those who may want to delve into some of these composers that are less well known. Probably my favorite box set of the past year.Follow-up two months later: I've been through this box set now three times. Sure, a few of the CDs I zipped over quickly, but some of them have been in repeated play. I continue to be impressed by the Erato engineers, the A&R people for choosing great subjects, and by the odd gem I come across in this box. This and the Das Alte Werke boxes have quickly become my favorite box sets, and I expect this green colour box will continue to sit right next to my CD player for quite a while more.

Another box set bargain. Don't resist as this box set is full of quality recordings at a price which it would be foolish to ignore!

Music contents and sound quality are fantastic. However, the packaging is horrible, generic green cardboard sleeves with no original artwork.

Sehr schöne Sammlung für den anspruchsvollen Hörer! Geschmäcker sind verschieden, Hörgewohnheiten sind unterschiedlich...wer die Klassik liebt, wird an dieser Zusammenstellung auch seine Freude haben...!

ともかく好きなんだから仕方ありません。シモーネとイソリスティ・ベネッティとか無条件で好きなもんですから。