Romanticism had many faces. Mozart's spirit was still palpable in musical life, and Beethoven's powerful music set standards for every Romantic composer. Mozart's legacy was carried on by two great pianists: Hummel, a pupil of Mozart, and Ries, a pupil of Beethoven. Each of them steered Romanticism in a different direction. Newspapers all over Europe wrote about the "wild romanticism" of the bohemian Ries, who is now regarded as a forerunner of Schumann. Meanwhile, the virtuoso Hummel enchanted and amazed his audience. Around 1815, at the time of the Congress of Vienna, he was the most famous pianist in the world, and Liszt was crazy about his music. Schubert, on the other hand, was the creator and embodiment of personal expressiveness in the Romantic period. He performed only in private circles and had no interest in empty virtuosity, although he was an outstanding pianist whose instrument, according to contemporaries, sang under his hands. This new recording presents the Piano Quartet in G major by Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778-1837), the Piano Quartet in F minor by Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838) and the Adagio & Rondo Concertante by Franz Schubert (1797-1828). Performed on a historical instrument of the Van Swieten Society, with Heleen Hulst (violin), Elisabeth Smalt (viola), Mátyás Virág (cello) and Bart van Oort (fortepiano).

Werke von Johann Nepomuk Hummel: Klavierquartett G-Dur op. posth. 4
+Ferdinand Ries: Klavierquartett f-moll op. 13
+Franz Schubert: Adagio & Rondo concertante F-Dur D. 487