Having shared ideas and projects for some time, there was no doubt for Pentatone to join forces with Oxingale Records. This is a union of two innovative and devoted recording companies with a long history of producing reputable records and collaborating with esteemed artists. We are pleased to have you join us in celebrating this milestone as it gives way to a tremendously intriguing and inquisitive series of co-productions for you, our customers and ourselves. The first title in the Pentatone Oxingale series in Beethoven, Period. This release features the complete sonatas and variations for fortepiano and violoncello, recorded on period instruments. In this collaboration, Matt Haimovitz plays his own Goffriller cello, crafted in Venice, Italy in 1710 – outfitted with ox-gut strings also from Italy and an early 19th Century rosewood tailpiece and drawn by a Dominique Peccatte bow of the same era, while Christopher O’Riley plays on an original Broadwood fortepiano made in 1823. Delivered in Pentatone’s signature warm, dynamic and detailed sound, this recording gives an opportunity for a straight encounter with the power of the rich interaction between the two instruments. Both Haimovitz and O’Riley engage themselves with the music, playing with welcome harmony and delightful phrasing from beginning to end, producing a dramatic and lyrical effect. Be prepared to be mesmerised by every single one of their electrifying phrases.