Rarely will a genre have been introduced with such charm and brutality as with Beethoven's Cello Sonata Op.5 No. 1. He was more or less the first to venture into the awkward balance of cello and piano, something Mozart and Haydn had ignored. Sonatas No. 1-2 were written in Berlin in 1796, when Beethoven was on tour. The magnificent Third Sonata op.69 was created almost in the same period as the
… Fifth Symphony. The last two sonatas were written in 1815 for the cellist Joseph Linke. All five sonatas thus reflect the entire Beethoven, measured according to the three periods (early, middle, late) in which his oeuvre is usually divided. Brothers Omri and Ori Epstein are from Israel. Besides as a duo they are also known from the Busch Trio (together with violinist ). This company currently resides in Amsterdam, where it is associated with a center for chamber music (MuziekHaven). (HJ)more
