After a successful start to the new complete edition of the Beethoven Piano Trios with the Swiss Piano Trio, Audite now presents the second volume of the series, again highlighting the contrast between early and later Trios.

In the early Piano Trio, Op. 1 No. 2, Beethoven incorporates the contrapuntal compositional techniques that he had studied extensively with Johann Georg Albrechtsberger concurrently with the composition of the Trios. With the Piano Trio in D major, Op. 70 No. 1, composed 13 years later, Beethoven creates a sombre mood using strong contrasting harmony and melody. The eerie sound effects, unheard of until this time and only made possible by the advances made in instrument manufacturing around 1800, substantiated the name 'Ghost Trio' added posthumously. Both works bear witness to the inexhaustible variety of Beethoven's musical ideas.