Cellists must be eternally grateful to Beethoven for his role in transforming their instrument from supporting player to fully fledged ensemble colleague. The evolution of the cello in this regard can be traced in the five sonatas the composer wrote over nearly two decades – the piano serves as protagonist in the two sonatas from 1796 before Beethoven gives the cello equal status in the three remaining works (1809, 1815).

Whatever the instrumental relationships, cellist Robert DeMaine and pianist Peter Takács savour the narratives in shapely and meticulous performances on this album, which also includes variations on operatic themes by Handel and Mozart. The two early sonatas enable Takács to reflect the dexterity and command of Classical style in which Beethoven the virtuoso pianist basked, even as he welcomed the cello along for the ride and the chance to make the occasional pertinent observation.

Once Beethoven revs up the dialogues between cello and piano starting with the Sonata in A major, Op 69, the writing becomes increasingly adventurous, dramatic and expressive. Here, DeMaine, principal cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, asserts himself with stylish and nuanced assurance, bringing nobility to the lyrical lines and engaging in animated discourse with the piano.

The shorter sonatas of Op 102 find the musicians keenly attentive to Beethoven’s formal and harmonic inspirations, especially the audacious fugue that ends the final sonata. In the three light sets of variations, the piano takes the upper hand(s), and Takács, whose probing 2011 traversal of Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas was reissued last year on Cambria Master Recordings, applies elegant artistry to every gleaming flourish and turn of phrase.