"The pillar of Heilbronn's music scene." "An international calling card for Heilbronn as a centre of the arts." "An excellent ambassador on tours of Germany and abroad." The Württemberg Chamber Orchestra of Heilbronn has certainly been highly praised. And its foundation fifty years ago can be regarded as a great moment for culture in the region and far beyond.

Ruben Gazarian took over as the artistic director of the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra of Heilbronn at the start of the 2002/2003 season. He has strikingly enhanced its standard repertoire by occasionally expanding the WKO to a symphony orchestra and choosing a host of compositions from the Romantic period, the early modern age and the avant-garde.

The new recording “simply strings” presents important 20th century works for string orchestra by Béla Bartók (Divertimento for String Orchestra) and Benjamin Britten (Simple Symphony) as well as lesser known works for string orchestra by Jean Sibelius and Leos Janacek.