"Throughout history, the cultural legacy of some geniuses has been of such universal magnitude that its aftermath has spread far beyond the narrow confines of the actual field of their activity. In a study of the University of Cambridge, which is dedicated to the ranking of the 100 most important, most influential personalities in history, Ludwig van Beethoven is ranked 27th; Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821, rank 2), that brilliant commander and statesman - at the same time megalomaniac dictator and ruthless butcher of millions - was a year older than Beethoven. He changed the face of music forever. In his fundamentally new conception of the art of sound based on the Viennese Classicism (formed primarily by Mozart and Haydn), everything that was created in composition by him at the time outshone even those, who did not know Beethoven and his music despite his later popularity. The casalQuartett‘s five-part Concert & CD project explores the phenomenon of Beethoven‘s impact on his time, or, conversely, how other musicians influenced him. For however peculiar and original Beethoven was: Without his era, as it was, he too would have become someone else.