Ferdinand Ries’s works for piano and orchestra stand alongside those of Hummel as the finest and most important of their kind from the early decades of the 19th century. Ries was long remembered as Beethoven’s friend, pupil and secretary, but these recordings reveal the intense lyricism and rugged Beethovenian grandeur of this pianist-composer’s piano concertos. A rich variety of companion pieces renowned for their brilliant juxtapositions of ravishing beauty and exceptional pianistic virtuosity are also included.

This 5-disc box brings together all Naxos releases of Ferdinand Ries’s complete works for piano and orchestra, performed by pianist Christopher Hinterhuber together with conductor Uwe Grodd directing the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the Gävle Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.

Each of these discs was critically acclaimed on their original release, with Classical Lost and Found commenting on Vol.1: ‘magnificent playing [and] highly accomplished accompaniment… This is some of the most engaging music recently unearthed’. Fanfare also commented on Vol.2: ‘Hinterhuber makes this music sing and sparkle, and the florid passages are executed with head-shaking smoothness’.

Christopher Hinterhuber won numerous top prizes and honours at the international piano competitions in Leipzig (Bach), Saarbrücken (Bach), Pretoria (Unisa), Zurich (Geza Anda) and Vienna (Beethoven) among others. As “Rising Star” 2002–03, he performed with violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja in the international series at the Carnegie Hall, New York and in all important musical centers in Europe. The last few years have seen him play in major festivals such as the Schleswig-Holstein-Festival in Germany, Mozartwoche in Salzburg, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, the Ruhr Piano Festival and the Prague Autumn; under such conductors as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Kirill Karabits, Jakub Hrůša and Bertrand de Billy, among many others. He plays frequently chamber music, for example as pianist of Vienna-based Altenberg Piano Trio, which has its own series in the Musikverein in Vienna.

Pianist Christopher Hinterhuber has made further chamber music recordings for Naxos, and an album of C.P.E. Bach’s Sonatas and Rondos (8557450) that was admired by The Penguin Guide for its ‘clear, pellucid tone, modest colouring, and an attractive control of light and shade’.

New Zealand based conductor and flautist Uwe Grodd first gained worldwide recognition when he won First Prize at the Cannes Classical Awards 2000, for the Best 18th Century Orchestral Recording with his album of symphonies by Johann Baptist Vaňhal conducting the Nicolaus Esterházy Sinfonia in Hungary (8554341). This was followed by a recording of Ignaz Pleyel’s symphonies (8554696), which was one of three finalists in the Best 18th & 19th Century Orchestral Recording category at Cannes in 2002. It also reached the Critics’ Choice Top 60 Discs of the recording year in the BBC Music Magazine.