Ferdinand Ries is remembered as Beethoven’s one-time pupil, secretary and copyist, but the discovery of his many compositions showed him to be a forward-looking composer in his own right. The 1799 Cello Sonata in C minor is among the first of its genre, the 15-year-old Ries already showing remarkable talent in its ‘Sturm und Drang’ moods. The Trio, Op. 63 was admired in its day for its ‘ingenuity of modulations’, and fashionable London society lapped up the exotic themes of works such as Introduction and a Russian Dance and the virtuosic Trois Airs russes variés. © Naxos