Ries Archive
RIES: Piano Concerto Nos. 8 & 9 – Piers Lane, piano/ The Orchestra NOW/ Leon Botstein – Hyperion
The virtuosic, colorful style of Ferdinand Ries has a potent acolyte in Piers Lane. RIES: Piano Concerto No. 8 in A-flat Major, Op. 151 “Gruss an den Rhein”; Introduction and Polonaise, Op. 174; Piano Concerto No. 9 in G minor, Op. 177 – Piers Lane, piano/ The Orchestra NOW/ Leon Botstein – Hyperion CDA68217, 73:23 (4/27/18) [Distr. by Harmonia mundi/PIAS] ****: A piano virtuoso celebrated for his ‘romantic wildness,” Rhinelander Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838) had been a piano student of Beethoven, and he later served the great Bonn master as secretary and copyist. After various stints and interruptions in his career in Vienna and Paris, Ries made his way to London, where he had residence from 1813-1824. Having befriended Johann Peter Salomon, Ries became involved in the Philharmonic Concerts, encouraging his gift for compositions, including six symphonies, piano concertos, individual keyboard pieces, and chamber works. In 1826, Ries celebrated his return to the Rhineland with his Piano Concerto No. 8 (pub. 1827) with its subtitle “Greetings to the Rhine.” Ries follows Beethoven in his penchant for broad orchestral introductions to his first movements, here, a lyrical Allegro con moto that includes trumpet and tympani work that might be attributed to Beethoven […]
Vilde Frang: Homage = Violin Music by RIES; SCHUMANN; WIENIAWSKI; GLUCK; SCHUBERT; POLDOWSKI; DEBUSSY; SCRIABIN; KREISLER; DVORAK; PROKOFIEV; ALBENIZ; PONCE; BAZZINI; MENDELSSOHN – Vilde Frang / Jose Gallardo – Warner
Vilde Frang: Homage = RIES: La capricciosa; SCHUMANN: Widmung; WIENIAWSKI: “Obertass” Mazurka; Caprice in E-flat; GLUCK: Melodie; SCHUBERT: Ballet Music from “Rosamunde”; POLDOWSKI: Tango; DEBUSSY: La plus que lente; SCRIABIN: Etude, Op. 8, No. 10; KREISLER: Gypsy Caprice; Rondino; DVORAK: Slavonic Dance in e minor; PROKOFIEV: Masks; ALBENIZ: Sevilla; PONCE: Estrellita; BAZZINI: Calabrese, OP. 34, No. 6; MENDELSSOHN: Song without Words, Op. 62, No. 1 – Vilde Frang, violin/ Jose Gallardo, piano – Warner Classics 0190295605326, 54:51 ****: Vilde Frang “indulges” her talents by paying homage to composers in transcriptions by masters of her instrument. Norwegian Violin virtuoso Vilde Frang (b. 1986) pays literal homage to the pedagogues and luminaries of the past with seventeen pieces and arrangements (rec. March 2017) made for her chosen instrument by the likes of Auer, Kreisler, Heifetz, and Szigeti. Frang performs on an 1854 Jean-Baptiste Vauillaume, opening her suave program with an “undoctored” original piece from 1925, La capricciosa, by Franz Ries (1846-1932), a work that slides and cavorts in flirtatious gestures, then breaks into a spiffy version of a Brahms Hungarian Dance. The fine lied from Schumann’s Op. 25 Myrthen, “Widmung” makes as ravishing a violin transcription (by Leopold Auer) as it does […]
“Works for Natural Horn by Piano Virtuosi” by VON KRUFFT, POTTER, BEETHOVEN, RIES & CZERNY – John Stobart/Barbro Jannsson – Zuk Records
This recital brings us some little-known music of real merit.
FERDINAND RIES: Piano Concertos, Vol. 4 = Concerto Pastoral in D, Op. 120; Piano Concerto in C Minor, Op. 115; Introduction et Rondeau Brilliant WoO54 – Christopher Hinterhuber, piano/ Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/ Uwe Grodd – Naxos
Two grand, fully mature concertos by Ferdinand Ries—if you haven’t been collecting this series, Vol. 4 is a very good place to start.
Essay On Listening to Symphonies in Surround Sound
This comes from the note booklet to one of the multichannel SACDs we review this month. While it refers specifically to the symphonies of Ries it discusses surround sound for concert music recordings in general. We thought it was highly appropriate since that is a major focus of AUDIOPHILE AUDITION.
Stereotypes Audio
Cembal d’amour
Pure Pleasure / Speakers Corner
Cedille
