While Joseph Haydn is quite rightly regarded as the most important co-inventor of genres such as the symphony, the string quartet and the piano trio in the form in which they have been handed down since the middle of the 18th century, the instrumental concerts are somewhat different. They primarily served the purpose of giving the individually outstanding members of the Esterházy court orchestra the opportunity to perform as soloists. Nevertheless, one can always appreciate their quality and, upon closer listening, discover a variety of beautiful things in them. Developed from the tradition of the Baroque concerti grossi, Haydn probably created a total of about 40 solo concertos, probably four of them for violin.

Thomas Albertus Irnberger, violin, and Pavel Kašpar, piano, lead us with this album into the bourgeois salon of the late 19th century – an oasis amid the "good old days" which weren’t, of course, that good to begin with: mired turmoil, social inequalities, and wars as much and more than ever since. The invited audience were to listen to Hungarian dances by Brahms, Kodály or Rachmaninoff, Csárdás’ by Franz Lehár, Miska Hauser or Jeno Hubay, Romances, Fantasies and other melodies by Tchaikovsky, Leopold Auer, Carl Bohm or Joseph Joachim. Some songs from operettas by Lehár, Jeno Huszka, Emmerich Kálmán and Pongrác Kacsóh with the Hungarian soprano Brigitta Simon complete this musical visit to the "Salon de Budapest".

The violinist Thomas Albertus Irnberger, the cellist David Geringas and the pianist Barbara Moser play piano trios by female composers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Amy Marcy Beach artfully combines French modernity with late romantic and American folklore elements in her trio from 1938, Sonia Eckhardt-Gramatté's work "Ein wenig Musik" (A Piece of Music) impresses with originality, melodious ideas and diverse rhythmic components, Louise Farrenc's trio from 1857 shows that she was a contemporary of early Romanticism, but also dealt with Ancient music, Mélanie Hélène Bonis' pieces for piano trio "Soir" and "Matin" were created in 1907 and reflect the different moods of a day, while Julia Frances Smith's Cornwall Trio from 1966 expresses the funny, playful energy of the gifted composer that she was.