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Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838) Piano Concertos, Volume 1: Opp. 123 and 151 As one of the greatest pianists in Europe of his time and a composer of exceptional...

Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838)


Piano Concertos, Volume 1: Opp. 123 and 151

As one of the greatest pianists in Europe of his time and a composer of exceptional ability it is surprising that the name Ferdinand Ries is not better known today. Indeed, the neglect of most of his major works is even more inexplicable given his long association with Beethoven.

In most other circumstances this would have prompted an exhaustive study of his music but in Ries's case this has not happened. One of the reasons for this may lie in his publication of an important book of reminiscences about Beethoven which has proved to be of such compelling interest to scholars that they have concentrated on it rather than his music. Of his own career comparatively little has been written. Over the years there have been sporadic performances and recordings of some of Ries's chamber works and, more recently, of his very impressive symphonies. The concertos, however, have until now remained curiously unexplored. This recording is the first in a projected series of Ries's complete works for piano and orchestra.

Ries's connections with Beethoven began in Bonn where his father Franz, a professional violinist and pianist, taught Beethoven. Ries, too, studied with his father and also received cello lessons from Bernhard Romberg for whom Beethoven later wrote his Op. 5 Cello Sonatas. When the electoral court was dissolved in 1794 Ries found himself without the prospect of a secure position and for the next seven years remained at home studying with his father. In 1801 he moved to Munich where he eked out a fairly precarious existence as a copyist while taking lessons with Peter von Winter.

In October he left for Vienna where Beethoven, now well-established as a pianist and composer, agreed to take him on as a pupil.

During Ries's three years of study with Beethoven he acted frequently as his secretary and copyist which, of course, lent great credibility to his later writings.

Beethoven did not teach Ries composition - for that he went to Albrechtsberger, Kapellmeister at St Stephen's Cathedral - but his influence on Ries's development as a composer nonetheless was profound. Beethoven also smoothed his introduction into Viennese musical circles first by securing for him a position as pianist to Count Browne in Baden, one of Beethoven's own patrons, and in organizing his debut (as Beethoven's pupil) on 1st August 1804 at which he gave a performance of the C minor Piano Concerto, Op. 37, with cadenzas of his own composition. With the risk of conscription into the French Army looming, Ries returned to Bonn via Prague, Dresden and Leipzig and later travelled on to Paris having being turned down as unfit for military service. He languished in Paris for two years before returning to Vienna in August 1808 where he stayed for just under a year.

Ries's career seems to have finally taken off in 1809 and during the next four years he toured extensively throughout Europe. He was appointed a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Music in 1813 and the following year published an impressive set of variations for piano and orchestra based on Swedish national airs.

The next eleven years of Ries's life were spent in London where he enjoyed a successful career as a celebrated virtuoso, teacher and composer. His father's former teacher, Johann Peter Salomon, who will forever be remembered as the impresario who brought Haydn to London, introduced Ries to the Philharmonic Concerts where he appeared for the first time on 14th March 1814. Ries's success in London was by no means assured as he was only one of several great virtuosi based there. Nonetheless, his playing was clearly of a very high order and impressed not only the public but also his fellow professionals. Camille Pleyel, son of the composer and publisher Ignaz Pleyel and himself an outstandingly gifted musician, wrote in a letter to his parents concerning his recent experiences in London:
'Yesterday [17th April 1815] I heard Ries at the same Philharmonic. He played a new quintet of his own composition. In the first part there are some delightful things. I like Ries's playing very much. It is mellow and yet often energetic. Ries played on an excellent Broadwood instrument and although the hall is quite large, I could hear every note of the piaNo. '

Disc 1

Piano Concerto No. 8 in A flat major, Op. 151, "Gruss an den Rhein", "Salute au Rhin" (more info)
Performed by: New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
Composed by: Ferdinand Ries
Conducted by: Uwe Grodd
Christopher Hinterhuber, piano


1.   I. Allegro con moto - 12:43
2.   II. Larghetto con moto - 5:01
3.   III. Rondo: Allegro molto - 11:17


Piano Concerto No. 6 in C major, Op. 123 (more info)
Performed by: New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
Composed by: Ferdinand Ries
Conducted by: Uwe Grodd
Christopher Hinterhuber, piano


4.   I. Allegro con spirito - 15:04
5.   II. Larghetto quasi andante - 6:32
6.   III. Rondo: Allegro vivace - 10:20

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