Most of the works included on this new release from pianist Tomasz Ritter represent the style of mature classicism heralding romanticism. Joseph Haydn (1732?1809), Franciszek Lessel (c.1780?1838), Jan Vaclav Hugo Vorisek (1791?1825) and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770?1827) composed their music in Vienna, the musical capital of the Classical era. Lessel and Beethoven studied with Joseph Haydn.
Vorisek, meanwhile, who arrived in Vienna just after Haydn's death (in 1813), modelled himself on Beethoven, his personal acquaintance. And although the capital of music moved in the nineteenth century to Paris, Fryderyk Chopin (1810?1849) still made two visits to Vienna (1829, 1830?1831), which enriched his musical experience and left an impression on his music and his career.
The word fantasia, or fantasy [Gr. 'phantasia' ? fancy, imagination], can signify a wide variety of forms, at times structurally very different from one another. During the Classical era, fantasias were works of a free design, referring to existing forms, with elements of improvisation and bravura. Widespread in the nineteenth century were fantasias constituting arrangements of operatic arias and songs.
The spirit of the age is perfectly conveyed on this disc by the sound of an historical Viennese piano by Conrad Graf (1782?1851). His instruments were highly regarded by composers of the Classical and Romantic eras. It is worth mentioning that Graf lent Beethoven his piano in 1826, just a year before his death, and Chopin chose a Graf for his concert in Vienna in 1829 and visited Graf's factory in person.
After a recital in Berlin in 2019, International Piano magazine dubbed Tomasz Ritter an 'intrepid adventurer'. This young musician's interests encompass early music and early instruments: fortepianos, clavichords and harpsichords.
In September 2018 Ritter won the 1st International Chopin Competition on Period Instruments, organised by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute. He is also a prize-winner of many other competitions, including the 11th 'Arthur Rubinstein Memorial' International Competition for Young Pianists in Bydgoszcz.