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Ferdinand Ries was a seriously minded romantic who had imprinted deeply on Beethoven. Is it purely coincidence that the portrait on the inside front cover of the booklet has definite Beethovenian qualities, I wonder? That said, he was also open to Schumann and Ignaz Brüll - whether or not he knew it. His way with the symphony can be heard at satisfying length in the Ries symphonies on CPO.

Ries’s aptitude for Beethovenian sturm und drang is phenomenal. The impression is inescapable in the Overture from “Die Räuberbraut” where it is moderated by the Schumann of the Fourth Symphony. That particular flavour is varied with a touch of storminess redolent of Berlioz’s Le Corsair towards the end. The Overture from “Liska oder Die Hexe von Gyllensteen” is a shade more balletic, with a dash of Weber’s Oberon and Euryanthe and even a foreshadowing of Tchaikovsky.

The Double Horn Concerto has a cresting classical confidence - that replete victory felt in the Egmont overture. Horn soloists Teunis van der Zwart and Erwin Wieringa spin the exciting ebullience and the poetry with directness and a total grip on the technicalities. They leave one convinced how well this piece would pair with Schumann’s quadruple horn Konzertstück. The Violin Concerto was written at about the same time as the horn work. Its smoothly traced beguiling contours are reminiscent of the Beethoven concerto yet with more overt drama and a little less in the way of Olympian idyllic detachment though that strand is projected in the central Andante - and it is pretty impressive. The juniper freshness of the festive finale might almost be a trade between Beethoven and Dvorak.

As usual there are densely thorough liner-notes from CPO.

Stunning playing by the 42-strong Die Kölner Akademie. Forthright and unsynthetic recorded sound from CPO’s Michael Morawietz.

Rob Barnett

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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