In the program 'Beethoven vs Piazzolla' these two composers who do not always color within the musical lines and who do not allow themselves to be tamed by musical rules are being played. Together with the renowned bandoneonist Carel Kraayenhof, we embark on a journey of discovery by connecting the progressive ideas of these musical rebels. We have played this exciting program before and the hopeful question always followed: "Did you also record this?"

With "Outcast", the Dutch string quartet Matangi breaks a lance for artistic freedom and musical expression - and now also against a senseless war. The three Soviet Russian composers composed music that ran dangerously counter to the tastes of the regime under which they lived. Shostakovich kept a packed suitcase ready in case he was arrested by the KGB. Schnittke's work was viewed with suspicion and his performances were regularly prevented. In addition to his musical work, the Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov is also known for his political commitment.

With "Outcast", the Dutch string quartet Matangi breaks a lance for artistic freedom and musical expression - and now also against a senseless war. The three Soviet Russian composers composed music that ran dangerously counter to the tastes of the regime under which they lived. Shostakovich kept a packed suitcase ready in case he was arrested by the KGB. Schnittke's work was viewed with suspicion and his performances were regularly prevented. In addition to his musical work, the Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov is also known for his political commitment.

The Matangi Quartet's 2005 release Scandinavia has one slight problem: while two of the composers, Edvard Grieg and David Monrad Johansen, were Norwegian, the third, Julius Röntgen, was Dutch! His presence is explained by his close friendship with Grieg, and the Matangi Quartet's decision to include his attractive two-movement Quartettino in A minor as filler is barely justifiable through that connection. Grieg's String Quartet in G minor, Op. 27, and Johansen's String Quartet, Op. 35, both deserve their place here, not only due to their creators' nationality but because they are solid examples of quartet writing outside the German tradition, and demonstrate the Norwegian proclivity to incorporate folk-inspired melodies in looser, more sectionalized developments than are found in Classical, motivically integrated models.