Les 24 Violons du Roy take their name from – and explore the work of – the ensemble founded by Louis XIII in 1626, and which subsequently provided the music at the palace of Versailles until the early 1760s. The players are drawn from the Royal College of Music and the Paris and Orsay conservatoires, and their instruments are reconstructions of those used in France at the time of the orchestra's glory days during the reign of Louis XIV.

Despite the name, this is not specifically a string ensemble, though it's the strings that make it remarkable. The instruments differ in size from those of modern orchestra and indeed from most other period bands. The highest, the dessus, is smaller than the present-day violin. There are mellow-toned tenor violas called quintes that have no modern equivalent, and there are no double basses. The resulting sound is pristine, yet astonishingly sensual.

Roger Norrington conducted a programme of orchestral music and dance suites from operas that were popular at the turn of the 18th century, carefully planned to point up stylistic contrasts between composers. So the elaborate beauties of Lully's Armide were juxtaposed with the Purcellian directness of Desmarets' Circé: Purcell, it should be remembered, was familiar with French baroque music, which was popular with the Stuart monarchy after the Restoration.

The grandeur of Marais' Ariane et Bacchus, meanwhile, was a foil for the discreet sexiness of Campra's Tancrède. The closing work was a suite from De Lalande's Symphonies Pour les Soupez du Roy, which Louis XIV insisted should be played during dinner at least once a week. The performances were exquisite. Bliss from start to finish.

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