Tapiola sinfoniettan aarteita by Farrenc, L., Ries, Ferdinand, De (2024/2024), Director musical Janne Nisonen, Espoo Cultural Centre (Espoon kulttuurikeskus), Espoo, Finland

Two rarities are featured on this excursion by the Tapiola Sinfonietta to Järvenpää. Louise Farrenc’s 30-minute Nonet is a blissful early Romantic piece showcasing the French tradition of music for wind instruments. It was acclaimed by the critics when first performed, even if the (male) critics paid more attention to its “delightful lightness” than its symphonic writing. Ferdinand Ries, a pupil of Beethoven’s, opens his Fifth Symphony with gestures reminiscent of his great teacher’s Third and Fifth Symphonies but shows himself to be his own man in the drama he sculpts.