In the news section at Naxos's website is the welcome news that they're recording the works for piano and orchestra of Ries, whose eight excellent symphonies were released by cpo a few years back. To my knowledge, only the third piano concerto has previously been recorded, once by Felicja Blumental for RCA and later by Maria Littauer for Vox. Like all the Ries I've heard, the shade of Beethoven is never far away, but that's no bad thing. I'm looking forward to the series. Also of interest is the Alwyn symphonies, with David Lloyd-Jones. Alwyn is one of those British composers who sometimes gets relegated to the background along with such people as Howells and Rubbra. Both series are due to start being released later this year. Richard Pennycuick