Almost without exception, these performances by pianist Wilhelm Kempff, violinist Henryk Szeryng, and cellist Pierre Fournier are the most magnificent, the most magisterial, the most monumental, and the most fun of any ever recorded of Beethoven's piano trios. Separately, Kempff, Szeryng, and Fournier were among the best Beethoven players of the middle years of the twentieth century, and together they play like old friends whose affection for each other and the music has only grown deeper over the years. And, of course, the amazing thing is that these were, for the most part, ad hoc performances, performances done in the studio for Deutsche Grammophon's 1970 Beethoven edition but performances that have withstood the test of time so well that DG reissued them for its 1997 Beethoven edition. From their emotionally extravagant Op. 1 trios through the superlatively balanced Op. 70 trios to their final grand and sublime Op. 97 trio, Kempff, Szeryng, and Fournier's performances are superb. And while one might quibble with the inclusion of the Beaux Arts Trio's stolid performance of Beethoven's arrangement of his septet, no one would quibble with the exquisite performance of Beethoven's arrangement of his Symphony No. 2 by Besch, Brandis, and Boettcher. And the inclusion of every work Beethoven wrote for piano trio only increases the set's value.

过去现在以及将来，贝多芬带来的音乐，常使人迷惑究竟是尘世间曾诞生过一位神，抑或是一位神曾光顾了人间，究竟是何等的才华，才能使最伟大的交响乐，协奏曲，和室内乐，能如此完美的结合于一身；又究竟是何等的恩赐，带给后代的艺术家们亲自体验经典重现的机会。无须再去费心设想如果没有贝多芬和贝多芬的音乐，人间将会失去多少的感动与欢乐，此刻的我们所应完成的，是在巨星逝去的一百八十年后，在那仍璀灿无比的光辉之下，静静聆听。

貝多芬一生總共寫了七首鋼琴三重奏，本集收錄其中的兩首，包含第三號，作品1-3，以及第5號，作品70-1「幽靈」。本輯中兩首作品，分別錄製於1958與61年，分別於德國波昂的貝多芬故居，以及卡薩爾斯親手創立普拉德音樂節錄製。當時卡薩爾斯已近85高齡，但其藝術性與技巧性依舊令人折服，並與霍佐夫斯基、聖多．維及殷格爾等好友，共同營造親密的音樂氛圍，樹立室內樂演奏的最高標準以及鑑賞的最高境界。儘管是五十多年前的錄音，如今聽來依舊令人動容。