At the beginning of the 19th century, the guitar experienced a true heyday in several European cities. Numerous guitar virtuosos sparked a wave of enthusiasm for the guitar. The guitar, long overlooked and, unlike the lute, without a tradition in art music, entered concert life and became a fashionable instrument. However, the majority of these concerts were not public in the modern sense; rather, they took place in the private salons of the nobility and the wealthy middle class. Those with social ambitions hosted musical soirees. The private spaces for these soirees were not the size of a concert hall, and a piano was not always available. Songs with guitar accompaniment and works for smaller chamber music ensembles with guitar, which were published in large numbers at the beginning of the 19th century, therefore enjoyed great popularity.

Anton Diabelli became immortal through Beethoven's "Diabelli Variations". But the busy composer, arranger, publisher and music manager could also do it the other way round: his "Pot-Pourri from Beethoven's most popular works" may seem sacrilegious to some admirers of the titan today. When it was written in 1817, he met a huge demand. Helen Dabringhaus and Negin Habibi present this extraordinary treat together with other works by Diabelli for flute and guitar - a gallant entertaining music at it's best! Diabelli uses only short snippets of Beethoven for his "Pot-Pourri", jumping extremely nimbly from the 4th Symphony to the Piano Sonata op. 28, from it's slow movement to the Trio, from there seamlessly to the Spring Sonata, then to the 2nd Symphony, to Piano Trio op. 1 No 3 and back to 4th Symphony. What makes one dizzy in the description turns out to be either a cheerful guessing game when listening - or simply a distinctive reverence with depth. Diabelli's commercial success as a publisher is closely linked to Rossini's breakthrough in Vienna. And so it is not surprising that among his countless arrangements are also arrangements from Rossini operas. Dabringhaus and Habibi have chosen the overtures to "The Thieving Magpie" and "The Barber" - both still box-office hits today and also extremely attractive in the instrumentation for flute and guitar. Just listen to the famous drum rolls served up with a twinkle in the eye... Diabelli's feel for the public's taste is also evident in the two cheerful serenade compositions, which seem to have been written just for the flutist. Habibi's lively and sensitive guitar playing provides the lively alternation between dance-like and arioso parts, on whose secure base Helen Dabringhaus can revel in finely graduated sounds and constantly changing expressions.