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After his studies in Vienna, Wolfdieter Maurer was the artistic director of the Vienna Boys’ Choir. Since 1991, he has been working as a freelance conductor in Japan and Europe. This Arte Nova title features a beloved and well-known classical work at budget price.

Emil Klein was born in Romania in 1955 and studied at the Bucharest Conservatoire and with David Geringas in Hamburg. He achieved an international reputation on his concert tours of Europe, the US, and Africa. He appears as a soloist with orchestras such as the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra and the Bucharest Radio Symphony Orchestra. Alongside his solo career he spends time playing chamber music and in 1990 founded the chamber orchestra “Hamburg Soloists.” He performs in such halls as the Berlin Philharmonie and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and at renowned festivals such as the Rheingau and Ludwigsburg Festivals.

Swedish cellist Frans Helmerson has performed with many of the best orchestras under the baton of some of today’s great conductors. Another important aspect of his musicianship is chamber music, in which capacity he is a frequent guest at some of the most important European festivals as well as being the Artistic Director of the Umeå-Korsholm International Chamber Music Festivals in Sweden and Finland.

Born in 1968, Guido Schiefen was a student at the Cologne Conservatory with Alwin Bauer and took courses with Maurice Gendron and Siegfried Palm. Besides his engagements as soloist with renowned orchestras, Schiefen is dedicated to chamber music, performing with the Ensemble Incanto and the Trio con Flauto.

Samuel Friedmann graduated from the Kharkov Conservatory as a violinist in 1964 and from the Leningrad Conservatory as a conductor in 1966. In 1973 he immigrated to Israel and began his international career. During this time, Friedmann took over the positions of the Musical Director or Chief Conductor of the Haifa Symphony in Israel (1973–75), the Württembergische Philharmonie in Germany (1979–83), and the St. Gallen Opera House in Switzerland (1983–89).

George Alexander Albrecht is counted among the leading conductors of his generation. Through his many guest appearances, he is known to all the major German orchestras. Internationally acclaimed clarinetist Ralph Manno, prizewinner of the German Music Competition, is a professor at the Cologne Conservatory.

Alun Francis has conducted the major english orchestras including the BBC Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and the London Mozart Players. A composer himself, he composes for theater and film. Since the beginning of the 1996/97 season he has been Chief Conductor of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano “Giuseppe Verdi.”