This 15 cd boxset pays tribute to the great French composer Charles Gounod (1818-1893), whose 200th anniversary of birth we will celebrate on June 17th. This is the most comprehensive boxset dedicated to Gounod ever released. It includes 3 operas: his masterpiece Faust in the historic version by Georges Prêtre and Plácido Domingo, a highlights version sung in German by Gedda, Moser and Moll, and Roméo et Juliette and Mireille by the French conductor Michel Plasson and Alfredo Kraus (1st) and Mirella Freni (2nd). They are completed by some other opera arias, a great selection of 26 songs, three sacred works including the well-known Messe solennelle de Sainte Cécile and the only version available of Mors et Vita. Then, after a rarity, the Symphony for Wind instruments, the box ends with Gounod’s symphonies.