Until a few years ago, the Polish composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg was almost unknown in German musical life. Yet the seriousness and deep emotionality of his works, which are closely linked to his biography, are impressive: Having fled the Warsaw ghetto in 1939, he remained the sole survivor of the Holocaust in his family. The Cello Concerto, composed in 1948, is wonderfully stirring in its melodicism and emotionality.

Hector Berlioz was inspired by the literature of Goethe as well as the symphonies of Beethoven to write his most important work: the "Symphonie fantastique". The focus is on the artist himself, who goes through his story in various inner states of mind. For the artistic movement of the time, Berlioz's bold "Symphonie fantastique" is a revolutionary manifesto that paves the way for the music of the 20th century.