The Piano Concerto No. 6 in C major, Op. 123, by Ferdinand Ries was composed around 1806. Composed in a proto-Romantic style, similar to the concertos of Johann Nepomuk Hummel, it also shows evidence of the influence of Beethoven's C minor Piano Concerto, Op. 37 which Ries had performed at his public debut in 1804.[1][2]
The manuscript bears the notation "Bonn 1806", suggesting it was completed there.[3][4] Allan Badley, in the notes to the Naxos recording comments that this would most likely make it the first of Ries's eight piano concertos to be written.[a][5] Further evidence for this lies in the fact that this is the only piano concerto by Ries to provide for a cadenza at the end of the first movement, as was traditional.[6] Publication, as the composers Op. 123 by firm of Sauer & Leidesdorf did not take place until around 1823/24.[4][3]
The concerto follows the traditional three-movement structure:
To date the concerto has only been recorded once, by Uwe Grodd with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and soloist Christopher Hinterhuber, this was released by Naxos Records[b] in conjunction with a publication of the score in a critical edition prepared by Allen Bradley.[7]