Piano Sonatas, Sonatinas Vol.5 : S.Kagan

FERDINAND RIES (1784-1838) : Piano Sonatas and Sonatinas 5

Sonata in A major, Op. 114
Sonata in A flat major
Sonata in B minor, WoO 11, Op. 176

Susan Kagan, Piano

Recorded in the Beethoven-Saal, Hanover, Germany, 28-29 December 2008

No less an authority than Robert Schumann praised Beethoven’s close friend and protege Ferdinand Ries for his ‘remarkable originality’. More recently, pianist Susan Kagan, intrigued by Ries’s Op. 1 piano sonatas went on to record all 14 of his solo piano sonatas and sonatinas, gaining critical acclaim for her eloquent advocacy of these unfairly neglected yet often substantial works. Bridging the divide between the Classical style of Haydn and Mozart and the Romantic impulses of Schubert, Chopin and Mendelssohn, with a healthy dose of Beethoven often in evidence, Ries repays today’s listener’s attention with musical drama, fluent virtuosity and poignant lyrical charm. ( NAXOS )