Illustrious Finnish-born cellist Timo-Veikko ‘Tipi’ Valve, Principal Cello of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, inhabits the Beethoven Cello Sonatas with every fibre of his being, and he teams up with fellow Beethoven-enthusiast and Festival co-director Stefan Cassomenos in a performance of the grandly conceived second sonata, an opera-inspired macrocosm from the darkly dramatic to the irresistibly mischievous. Tipi and Stefan are then joined by ACO legend Helena Rathbone for a collective immersion in one of Beethoven’s most blazingly sunlit works, the opulent E-flat major trio Op 70 No 2, brimming with vitality and seamless joy.