Friedemann Wuttke, the internationally recognised guitarist, joins forces here with his musical friends and companions. The result is an entertaining programme which not only shows the musical association of these friends, but also demonstrates how eras and nations are connected through music. A colourful collection of interesting, popular pieces has come into being. This ranges from the Renaissance to the 20th century; from Argentina to Spain. We thus arrive at a very exciting interplay between widely diverging styles and a great variety of musicians, in musical encounters that arose from two decades of international concert appearances. The guitar is joined by various contributors who are carried away by the lightness and charm that Friedemann Wuttke allows to prevail through his choice of pieces. In everything, the will of the guitarist to do justice to his instrument, to the composers, and also to the listener, is displayed in ways that are both entertaining and demanding.

Works for violin and piano occupy a special place in the compositional output of Nikolay Medtner (1880-1951). He wrote a large number of pieces for piano and voice. Where his chamber music is concerned, however, his emphasis was on the genre of the violin sonata. Medtner wrote three sonatas for violin and piano. They are written, like his one great piano quintet, on an almost symphonic scale. There are also the pieces for violin and piano that Medtner produced while he was working on a violin sonata. Presenting these works is Russian violinist Nikita Boriso-Glebsky. A soloist of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and winner of international music contests, he represented Russia at the Eurovision Young Musicians 2002, which made him a household name in his home country. He is joined by esteemed pianist Ekaterina Derzhavina.

According to Alessandro Scarlatti's own work catalogue, he wrote 117 dramme per musica. Even if some of them may have been only improvements or modifications, the number remains impressive. Il Trionfo Dell'Onore represents several of Scarlatti's works in a masterful program on this release.

Gerd Schaller writes: “Bruckner conceived and composed his String Quintet in F major as a work of chamber music. It is accordingly different from his symphonies in its layout and its realization; one substantial difference, for instance, is in the lack of mysticism in the string quintet: on the contrary, there is a sense of radiant blossoming. The underlying atmosphere is brighter, more optimistic, clear, even a little livelier; there is a constant flow and current running through the work. The slow movement is so full of inner meaning and in my view is certainly one of the most beautiful pieces of music that Bruckner ever wrote. The heaven-storming events, the concentrations of sound and erratic blocks of the symphonies, will be sought in vain.“ The Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra is one of the oldest and most important Czech orchestras and is a welcome guest throughout the Czech Republic and on concert platforms abroad. The orchestra was established in 1926, three years after the foundation of Czechoslovak Radio. Gerd Schaller studied conducting and held positions at various German state theatres until 2006, and since then has been a freelance artist in constant demand as a guest conductor with well-known orchestras and at concert halls and opera houses at home and abroad.

What makes Bruckner's eighth symphony so special to Jukka-Pekka Saraste is the richness of it's atmosphere. He is always excited by the dramatic first subject of the first movement, which is based on the same rhythmical motive as appears in the beginning of Beethoven's Ninth symphony. Saraste chooses to perform the Haas edition because it contains some fascinating sections taken from Bruckner's first version. In his version, Bruckner, advised by his well-meaning supporters, appears to have tried to create a greater symphonic unity and line.