Ries Piano Trio

Up until recently, it has pretty much been the job of the excellent German record company, cpo, to provide the interested collector with recordings of music by Ferdinand Ries (1784–1838). Susan Kagan, a Fanfare contributor herself, has been furthering the cause on the Naxos label, though, and the present disc is the second volume of a projected series of the composer’s piano sonatas and sonatinas.

Ferdinand Ries may still be known almost exclusively to the musical world as Beethoven’s friend, pupil, secretary and first biographer, but Brilliant Classics have done much to broaden our understanding of this significant figure in the Vienna of the early 19th century with albums of his own compositions, notably his sonatas for violin, cello and flute and his Piano Quintet.

This CD is one of the hidden gems in the huge Naxos catalogue; three German musicians displaying consummate skill in a less well-known Beethoven work and the equally attractive Ries piece. Ries deserves the attention in my opinion as, although often described as a mere epignone of Beethoven, he is clearly his own man! Of course he was influenced by Beethoven, having served as Beethoven's factotum for some years, but Ries often has something interesting to say in his music. Ries' Op.28 is a lovely clarinet trio lasting 23 minutes, wonderfully played by Jurgen Demmler (clarinet), Markus Tillier (cello), and Peter Grabinger.

Ferdinand Ries must have made a strong impression as a pianist. Beethoven, a gifted pianist in his own right, even entrusted the premiere of his Piano Concerto No. 3 to Ries. The two had known each other since their days together in Bonn, when Riess parents took the half-orphan Ludwig into their family. Ries was Beethovens right-hand man in Vienna, and what he learned from his great model, who was fourteen years his senior, is impressively demonstrated by the Franz Ensemble on its debut album: brilliant virtuosity meets Classical form, and tradition appears in new guise for a very special anticipation of the 250th anniversary of Beethovens birth!