Trio Khaldei likes to extend the boundaries of the trio set-up and brings together in this program pieces for violin and cello, violin and piano, cello and piano and one of Beethoven's most popular piano trios: the Geister Trio. This program gives a wide picture of the evolution in Beethoven's composition style, from classic to revolutionary romantic.

Beethoven originally composed his Duo in C for clarinet and bassoon ; we play the arrangement for violin and cello by F. Hermann. It is not known when Beethoven wrote this work, but it’s clearly an early work in which the influence of Haydn and Mozart is still easily audible.

The Sonata for violin and piano Op. 24a was given the nickname "Springsonata" (Frühlingssonate) after the death of the composer, because of the elegance and joy of life that transpire from it. Once more, Mozart is not far away, but Beethoven experiments with the form: this is the first sonata in four movements instead of the usual three.

The third Cello Sonata and the Geister Trio - both composed in 1808 - are clearly from a mature composer who has found his own voice. Beethoven looked for a long time for the right balance between cello and piano, and in the manuscript we can literally see Beethoven trying to find the ideal distribution of the melodic material between both instruments.

The Geister trio owes its name to Beethoven's pupil Carl Czerny, who wrote that the slow movement reminded him of the ghost scene from Shakespeare's Hamlet. About the trio, E.T.A. Hoffmann wrote : "this music proves that Beethoven’s music has a romantic soul, that resonates in a highly personal, thoughtful and brilliant way."