Act is the première recording on Ondine of Norwegian composer Rolf Wallin, a figure of increasingly international renown who celebrates his 50th birthday in 2007. He studied in Oslo with Finn Morthensen and Olav Anton Thommessen and later at the University of California where his teachers included Roger Reynolds and Vinko Globokar.Wallin's music combines an intuitive freedom with a rigorous mathematical approach, such as use of fractal algorithms to construct melody and harmony, resulting in a music that often hints at the influence of Ligeti, Xenakis and Berio.

The Oslo Philharmonic performs under the baton of respectively Jaap van Zweden, John Axelrod and music director Jukka-Pekka Saraste. Das war schön features young Austrian percussion star Martin Grubinger, chosen Rising Artist 2007/08 by the European Concert Halls Organisation and recipient of the Bernstein Award at the 2007 Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.