Martinu composed Ariane in a record time of one month, in the summer of 1958. The Greek myth of Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, King of Crete, who helps Theseus slay the minotaur, has been set to music by a number of renowned composers. Martinu based his libretto off Georges Neveux's drama Le Voyage de Thesee. Alongside the opera, this release features the Double Concerto, a work representing the apex of the composer's French period and written amidst dramatic circumstances at the time throughout Europe.