Mannes Beethoven Institute Faculty Concert at Mannes College Richard Termine for The New York Times The Mannes Beethoven Institute Faculty Concert From left, Ara Gregorian, violin; Thomas Sauer, piano; Colin Carr, cello; at Mannes College. For the last 12 years Mannes College the New School for Music has offered a Beethoven minifestival directed by the pianist Thomas Sauer, with master classes, lectures and performances by students and faculty. On Tuesday evening the program for the first faculty concert of the series featured works representing Beethoven's heroic style. Introducing the concert, Scott Burnham, a professor of music at Princeton University and the author of "Beethoven Hero" (Princeton University Press), said that associating Beethoven with the heroic is natural. The composer "became the paradigm of the suffering artist" and also created a distinctive style that can be heard in works including the Symphony No. 5, "Fidelio," the "Emperor" Piano Concerto and the "Eroica" Symphony. The "Ghost" Piano Trio (Op. 70, No. 1) and the "Kreutzer" Violin Sonata (Op. 47), also composed during Beethoven's middle period, represented new milestones in the genres. "We can hear Beethoven galvanizing chamber music," Mr. Burnham said, adding that the "Kreutzer" should really be called the "Bridgetower." The 45-minute work was initially dedicated to the violinist George Bridgetower, who performed it with Beethoven at the premiere in 1803. But after a quarrel Beethoven dedicated it instead to Rodolphe Kreutzer, who thought it unintelligible and never played it. The "Kreutzer" Sonata's tumultuous dialogue and seething drama inspired Tolstoy's novella of the same name. The pianist Ignat Solzhenitsyn and the violinist Soovin Kim offered a thoughtfully shaped rendition, but one that ultimately lacked an essential spark and passion. Mr. Sauer, the violinist Ara Gregorian and the cellist Colin Carr opened the program with an involving performance of the "Ghost" Trio, so nicknamed after Czerny wrote in 1842 that its slow movement reminded him of the ghost of Hamlet's father. The eerie mood is conveyed with slow crescendos and diminuendos, abrupt silences and, in particular, the impressionistic use of tremolando to evoke a sinister effect. The ensemble aptly conveyed the movement's dark ambience. Mr. Carr, the standout in the group, demonstrated a glowing tone in the short, fast outer movements. The Mannes Beethoven Institute runs through Sunday at Mannes College the New School for Music, 150 West 85th Street, Manhattan; (212) 580-0210, Ext. 4879, newschool.edu/mannes.