Last month marked the 270th anniversary of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's birth, and the composer's birthday was celebrated by numerous record labels. However, this album does not include works by the brilliant Austrian musician, but rather pieces by composers who were influenced by him during the classical period, but lived in his shadow and then fell into oblivion: Hyacinthe Jadin, Joseph Leopold Eybler, and Paul Wranitzki. On this disc, entitled Mozart's Contemporaries, we can hear string quartets that stand out for their effervescence, grace, and optimism, recorded by the La Speranza ensemble from Houston, a quartet highly regarded in the United States, composed of violinists Maria Lin and Joanna Becker, violist Yvone Smith, and cellist Francis Koiner.

The La Speranza Quartet, founded in 2016, is supported by the Houston Arts Alliance cultural foundation. The ensemble has a comprehensive repertoire dedicated to chamber music from the 18th and 19th centuries, presenting both works by lesser-known composers and pieces by Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven.