Ferdinand Ries - Piano Concerto No. 7, Op. 132 (1823)

Ferdinand Ries (28 November 1784 [baptised] – 13 January 1838) was a German composer. Ries was a friend, pupil and secretary of Ludwig van Beethoven. He composed eight symphonies, a violin concerto, eight piano concertos, three operas, and numerous other works in many genres, including 26 string quartets. In 1838 he published a collection of reminiscences of his teacher Beethoven, co-written with Franz Wegeler. The symphonies, some chamber works —most of them with piano— his violin concerto and his piano concertos have been recorded, demonstrating a style which is, unsurprising due to his connection to Beethoven, somewhere between those of the Classical and early Romantic eras. Piano Concerto No. 7 in A minor “Abschieds-Konzert von England“, Op. 132. London, 1823 Dedication: seinem freunde P.J. Eilender I. Grave — Allegro con moto (0:00) II. Larghetto con motto (17:35) III. Rondo. Allegro (25:47) Christopher Hinterhuber, piano and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Uwe Grodd Details by Allan Badley for Naxos liner notes: Ries composed his ‘Seventh’ Concerto in London in 1823. He had been living in London since 1813 and had prospered there. He was very highly regarded as a pianist and composer and was also a fashionable teacher. Nonetheless, he found himself increasingly irritated by the directors of the Philharmonic Concerts and, being in a sound financial position by the early 1820s, decided to leave London and return to his native Rhineland. Before his departure he composed a brilliant new concerto which was published the following year with the title ‘Abschieds-Concert von England’ (Farewell Concerto from England). Whatever Ries’s sentiments or intentions may have been at the time he wrote the work, this title does not appear on the autograph score which is simply headed ‘Seventh Concerto for the Pianoforte with full Orchestra Composed by Ferd: Ries London 1823’. The Abschieds-Concert shows Ries working at the height of his creative powers. Alone among the concertos, it opens with a short but powerful slow introduction. A seemingly innocuous dotted figure in the horns quickly proves to be of critical thematic importance as the taut, muscular Allegro con moto unfolds. To those familiar with Ries’s concertos, the majestic opening ritornello comes as no great surprise, but once the piano enters, in A major with a new theme, the movement takes on its own distinctive quality. The solo writing is remarkably flexible and the unexpected twists and turns in the bravura writing, particularly in the long cadenza that lies at the heart of the first movement, might well have been in the mind of the Harmonicon reviewer who, in a tribute to Ries published in 1824, wrote: Mr Ries is justly celebrated as one of the finest piano-performers of the present day. His hand is powerful, and his execution is certain,—often surprising. But his playing is most distinguished from that of all others by its romantic wildness…He produces an effect upon those who enter his style, which can only be compared to that arising from the most unexpected combinations and transitions of the Aeolian harp.