Eroica (or Heroic)
The "heroic" topic was prevalent around 1800 as Europe was entangled in the Napoleonic wars.
Beethoven's 3rd Symphony has come to be a flag bearer of this movement in music. In the same key of E-flat, we hear echoes of the revolutionary sentiments in both Op. 1/1 and Op. 70/2.

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Trio in E flat major, op. 1, no. 1
Ludwig van Beethoven, arr. Linos Piano Trio: Finale from Symphony no. 3 in E flat major, op. 55, Eroica
Interval
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Trio in E flat major, op. 70, no. 2

Pre-concert talk

In 2024-2025, the Linos Piano Trio recorded the complete Beethoven Trios on three different historical instruments, tracing the technological changes throughout the composer's life.
The trio will discuss how its interpretation of these works have transformed in the process, and how the cycle at Leiden Stadsgehoorzaal takes a further step of combining the original works with various symphonic transcriptions.

Sturm und Drang

Haydn famously didn't like Beethoven's extreme dramatic style in Op. 1/3, but we trace the opening theme back to Haydn's own String Quartet. The "storm" topic continues to inspire Beethoven to experiment with cloudy sounds in the Ghost trio.

BoldComposer
Franz Joseph Haydn, arr. Linos Piano Trio: Quartet no. 25 in C major, op. 20, no. 2, Hob.III:32, Capriccio: Adagio
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Trio in C minor, op. 1, no. 3
Interval
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Trio in D Major, op. 70, no. 1, Ghost

Sacred and Profane

Not an immediate image of Beethoven in the popular imagination, but he was a master of juxtaposing the sacred and the profane. Often letting the profane and humour have the last words, as is the case in his culminating final piano trio Op. 97 that was the last piece he performed in public.

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Trio in G major, op. 1, no. 2
Ludwig van Beethoven, arr. Beethoven: Scherzo and Finale, from Symphony no. 2 in D major, op. 36
Interval
Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Trio in B flat major, op. 97, Archduke