In her liner-notes Anne Weller points out that the Eighth and Ninth symphonies – paired at the latter’s premiere – are musical opposites, one dark the other light. A quick run-through of the Ninth rather confirms this, with Christian Lindberg’s mellifluous entry in the first movement quite without angst or aggression. Even the animated orchestration suggests an altogether more optimistic mood. In fact just listen to the passage that begins at 2:44, a lightly sprung piece of baroquerie with some beautifully articulated playing from the soloist.

Beethoven's five sonatas for cello and piano laid the foundations of twentieth-century musical thought. Under the fingers of Gary Hoffman and David Selig, these five monuments of musical history, though dating from the early nineteenth century, reveal all their premonitory dimension. For these two peerless musicians, this recording marks the culmination of an artistic partnership that began more than thirty years ago. Gary Hoffman and David Selig met in 1986 and have been programing Beethoven's sonatas for many years. Sometimes they even play them all in a single concert. Hoffman says, "I regret that the notion of individuality is being lost today. What is wonderful is to reveal the different 'characters' of the score. Even in Beethoven's quartets, there are voices that emerge from a sonic 'fusion'."