Jean-Pierre Rampal (1922-2000) was a French flutist. He learned flute playing at the Marseille Conservatory (where his father also taught) at a young age. He was already working in a professional orchestra at the age of 15. Rampal was one of the most important flutists of the 20th century. He made a decisive contribution to the acceptance of the flute as a solo instrument in the international concert scene. In the 1950s and 1960s, he was a soloist with the Saar Chamber Orchestra performing under German conductor Karl Ristenpart, on the concert stage, in the recording studio, on radio, and television. Mozart was to remain his principal love, the cornerstone of his repertoire. As the only solid gold flute owner, Rampal was famous as "Man With the Golden Flute." For him, the flute had the sound of humanity. Playing the flute was for him like singing. By the early 1960s, Rampal was renowned as the first genuinely international modern flute virtuoso and performed with many of the world's leading orchestras. Together with Ristenpart and the Saar Chamber Orchestra, Rampal made numerous recordings in the 1950s and 60s, most notably Mozart's works for the flute. He recorded them many times later with other conductors. However, in these early recordings on this album, the greatness of his art is preserved most fascinatingly. The Saar Chamber Orchestra, consisting of German String Players from Berlin and French Wind players, was one of the best ensembles and recorded a large number of works for Public Radio and International Record Labels. It was disbanded after the sudden death of its founder in 1967.