Frank Peter Zimmermann . Antoine Tamestit . Christian Poltéra

Frank-Peter Zimmermann is one of the greatest violinists of our time. Together with two top musicians from a younger generation, he invites you into a Viennese aristocratic drawing room at the turn of the eighteenth century. The string trio comprises violin, viola and cello, a format that was wildly popular in Vienna. Beethoven was one of the first to prove that this was not a defective string quartet, but a fully-fledged genre in its own right. The young Beethoven contributed five pieces to this repertory. The three string trios op. 9 are real treasures and are equal in worth to his earlier string quartets and piano trios. Although his earliest string trios follow the conventions of the classical form, Beethoven here gives himself license to be more single-minded. The last trio culminates in a thrilling climax with passionate themes, wilful harmonies and wild syncopations. These represent Beethoven's first but forthright ventures into romanticism.