Dimitri Ashkenazy, the clarinetist on this album, was born in New York in 1969 and spent his early childhood in Iceland before moving to Switzerland.
Anton Kholodenko, the violist, was born in Kharkov, Ukraine, in 1963 and was a prize winner at the Paganini competition in Genoa in 1985.
Max Bruch, considered a 'grandchild of the Romantic Era', was a child prodigy who performed his own piano concerto at age 14.
Weber developed a special interest in the clarinet due to his admiration and friendship with the famous clarinettist Heinrich Joseph Baermann.
Today, Max Bruch's name is mainly kept alive by his Violin Concerto in G Minor, which has retained its popularity.
Carl Maria von Weber, a key figure of early Romanticism, was not only a prolific composer but also active as a conductor and piano virtuoso.
Weber's clarinet compositions are generally virtuosic, designed to showcase both the instrument and the player.
