• Prague Conservatory: participating orchestra, orch

An account, signed ‘-h.’, of this event, was published by Tagesbote aus Böhmen 3/6/1857. The correspondent reported: ‘Music. Mr B. Rie, a pupil of Alexander Dreyschock, who already several times we have encountered in concerts as a virtuoso, several days ago gave before a select circle of connoisseurs and art lovers a simultaneous musical trial of his composition talent and of his technical skill. In the Examination Hall of the Conservatory a great Piano Concerto by the young artist was performed. Mr Rie himself played the solo part and his teacher Mr Dreyschock conducted the orchestra. Everywhere this concert piece exhibits a striving to go beyond the form of mere technical difficulties, and is rich in noble and powerful ideas, particularly in the first main movement and the slow 9/8 movement in G-flat major, and shows well his eye for instrumental details. In these movement the orchestra take on almost every theme, and the piano part is limited almost exclusively to infilling accompaniment figures, nonetheless of great difficulty. The last movement, F major, is the weakest in that he is caught up in striking reminiscences of Weber and Ries and his master Dreyschock. What we would classify above all as a very skilful technical texture of Ries is the often monotonous development [repetition] of the same ideas through different keys. Mr Rie, who performed the extremely difficult concerto part with great bravura and assured interaction with the orchestra, following which he presented in the salon style a graceful „Spinnerlied“ of his own composition, and Kittl’s graceful and elegant „Zephyr“. The young artist now embarks upon an artistic tour (with Paris as next stop), for which – on the recent sampling of his talent and skill – we can expect the best hopes for his future as an artist.’