This literary-musical dialogue between Nicole Heesters and the Pro Arte Quartet revolves around one of the best known stories written by the bestselling author Alessandro Baricco, namely the one about the life of the pianist Novecento who was born in the year 1900 on an ocean liner which he never left all his life. Central to the story is his musical duel with Jelly Roll Morton, the best jazz pianist of the twenties.

The narrator is the actress Nicole Heesters, daughter of well-known artists, who is herself well-known for her superb acting on all prominent German-speaking stages and for her many outstanding TV parts. The Pro Arte Ensemble (Willy Freivogel, flute, Andreas Vogel, oboe, Gundula Vogel, viola, and Sigi Schwab, guitar) have adapted music by Duke Ellington, Joseph Strauß and Jelly Roll Morton especially for this reading in the Arithmeum, with a view to recreating the particular atmosphere on an ocean liner nearly a hundred years ago.