Described by The Independent as "witty, with a rare ability to communicate complicated processes with clarity", Kevin Malone's music embraces high and low art styles in a celebration of polystylism and postmodern abandon.

This is most apparent in the 51-minute string quartet Opus opera which bursts with passion, irony and sorrow, creating a three-act opera in mind of the listener, even allowing for intermission music where one may have a tea break. Aims, Goals Targets and Objectives gives a stylistic spin to all the cadences - and nothing but the cadences - from Haydn's String Quartet op.74, No. 3 in G minor, while Fast Forward is a music student's nightmare of scales and arpeggios gone out of control at breakneck speed.

Marc Danel, Gilles Millet, Vlad Bogdanas and Guy Danel are the award-winning French-Belgian Quatuor Danel from Brussels, the featured quartet on this recording who bring their sparkling energy and poignant sensitivity to each scene of the opera. The New World Ensemble, lead by Andy Long, are a recently-formed group from the North West of England who combine contemporary flair and virtuosity with the warmth and charm associated with a gentler age. The Camerata Ensemble are a division of the Manchester Camerata, one of England's most heralded chamber orchestras.