There are four years between the publication of Beethoven’s Opus 12 (1799) and Opus 30 (1803), a period during which Beethoven’s musical language evolved to become more idiomatic, more “Romantic”, if you like. There is a loosening of the Classical shackles. More striking contrasts – in speed, in volume, in key – are deployed with greater freedom. So naturally, between the two Op. 12 works presented here – No 1 in D and No 3 in E Flat – and the two from Op. 30 – No 6 in A and No 8 in G – there is likewise a larger, audible contrast. That is just one of the many pleasures of listening to this first volume in Chloë Hanslip and Danny Driver’s projected complete recordings of Beethoven’s sonatas for piano and violin.