Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838) was born in Bonn and moved to Vienna in 1801, where his life became closely related to that of Ludwig van Beethoven (also a native of Bonn..). Ries studied piano with him, copied his scores and was the interpreter of several new works, notably the premiere of the Third Piano Concerto. Ries also wrote the first biography of Beethoven, an invaluable source of first-hand information. Ries’s style inevitably is modelled on that of his master Beethoven, he was however strong enough to stand on his own. This disc contains three of Ferdinand Ries’ numerous sonatas representing a common type of piano sonata ‘with accompaniment’. The idea of this type of music is to fill in the relatively short sound of the keyboard instrument with the sustained sound of a violin or wind instrument, thereby increasing the dynamic power of the music and highlighting its important moments. Played by Robert Bachara, violin (Anonymous Italian, 18th c.) and Marek Toporowski fortepiano (Andrzej Włodarczyk (2021) after Krall & Seidler (ca.1830)). Both musicians earned their spurs in the Historically Informed Performance Practice. Their previous recording of violin sonatas by George Pinto won enthusiastic reviews from the international press.