Ruggiero Ricci
A revered artist in his maturity, Ruggiero Ricci survived a troublesome custody battle in his childhood to emerge a prodigy of remarkable gifts. Ricci steadily outgrew the child wonder label to go beyond technical security to a more probing brand of musicianship. Although his once suave, sensuous tone roughened somewhat once he was past his middle years, he kept his sense of inquiry, continuing to espouse the cause of new music and proving his expertise as a teacher at several American universities.
Born to parents who valued music despite their modest means, Ricci showed evidence of talent in his childhood. His father, an amateur trombonist, arranged an audition with Louis Persinger, Yehudi Menuhin's patient teacher; Persinger referred the father and son to Mary Elizabeth Lackey for beginning instruction. In November 1928, Ricci's father signed an agreement giving Lackey guardianship. That same year, the young lad made his debut in San Francisco performing Mendelssohn's violin concerto, wresting from critics extravagant words of praise. The phenomenon was repeated in New York in October of the next year in a concert where he performed the same work with the Manhattan Symphony. Samuel Chotzinoff was moved to write of "a technical mastery of the violin and a genius for interpretation which place him in a class with a handful of great living violinists." A New York recital the following month called forth yet another volley of superlatives.
In 1930, Ricci's parents sought to regain guardianship, entangling the 11-year-old in a protracted court process. The strain manifested itself in Ricci's playing, which, for a time, veered from the course of technical proficiency shown earlier. Once he was again in his parents' custody, his playing regained its former assurance and an increasing depth of musicianship was also observed. No doubt he had benefited from studies with the German violinist Georg Kulenkampff. Ricci's first European tour in 1932 included London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, and Vienna and drew attentive audiences including Gerhart Hauptmann and Albert Einstein in Berlin.
Ricci's return to concert activity in the United States came with a November 24, 1934, recital at Carnegie Hall. On the basis of that appearance, several critics pronounced Ricci as having fully recovered from his period of technical and interpretive difficulties. Further studies with Paul Stassevitch and Louis Persinger resulted in a still more penetrating approach to the music he chose to perform. By 1939, The New York Times reviewed his February 25 recital by confirming "Mr. Ricci now gives of a more healthy approach to his music."
Following his youthful days, Ricci presented concerts in many of the world's most important music centers, premiering several concertos (Ginastera and von Einem among them) and remaining an active presence on the concert stage into his seventies and beyond. In 1957, he undertook his first world tour and has also traveled on several extensive concert tours in the former Soviet Union. In addition to his concert career, Ricci's teaching activities included positions at Indiana University, the Juilliard School of Music, and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; these three positions alone occupied him, in succession, from 1970 to 1988. The Salzburg Mozarteum honored him by appointing him to a guest professorship in 1989. A prolific visitor to the recording studio, Ricci assembled a lengthy discography, much of it documenting the breadth of his musical interests and including several discs devoted to works by Paganini. Ruggiero Ricci died at his home in Palm Springs, California, in August 2012 at the age of 94.
© TiVo
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Dvorák: Violin Concerto & Piano Concerto (Remastered 2024)
Ruggiero Ricci, Rudolf Firkusny, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Walter Susskind
Concertos - Released by Vox on 1 Jan 1975
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Dvořák: Cello Concerto in B Minor, Silent Woods & Other Orchestral Works (Remastered 2024)
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The Glory of Cremona (Ruggiero Ricci: Complete American Decca Recordings, Vol. 7)
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 1 Jan 1963
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LP Pure, Vol. 16: Ruggiero Ricci Plays Bizet, Sarasate & Saint-Saëns
Ruggiero Ricci, London Symphony Orchestra, Pierino Gamba
Classical - Released by Archiphon on 7 Apr 2015
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Lalo: Symphonie espagnole; Sarasate: Carmen Fantasie; Zigeunerweisen; Saint-Saëns: Havanaise; Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso (Ruggiero Ricci: Complete Decca Recordings, Vol. 6)
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16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto; Bruch: Violin Concerto No. 1 (Ruggiero Ricci: Complete Decca Recordings, Vol. 4)
Ruggiero Ricci, London Symphony Orchestra, Piero Gamba
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 1 Jan 1958
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Paganini: Caprices for Solo Violin (1959 Stereo Recording) (Ruggiero Ricci: Complete Decca Recordings, Vol. 11)
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 1 Jan 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky: Suite for Orchestra No. 3; Suite for Orchestra No. 4 ‘Mozartiana’ (Ruggiero Ricci: Complete Decca Recordings, Vol. 9)
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Ricci, Ruggiero: Legacy of Cremona (The) - Ruggiero Ricci Plays 18 Contemporary Violins
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A Paganini Recital (Ruggiero Ricci: Complete Decca Recordings, Vol. 19)
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Chopin, F.: Nocturnes (Arr. for Violin and Piano) (Pablo de Sarasate - Fryderyk Chopin - Vasa Prihoda)
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The Successful Beginning
Martha Argerich, Ruggiero Ricci, Sudwestfunkorchester Baden-Baden, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Ernest Bour, Peter Maag
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Virtuoso Showpieces (Ruggiero Ricci: Complete Decca Recordings, Vol. 20)
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Ruggiero Ricci (Decca Recordings 1950-1960)
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Sarasate: A Homage by Ruggiero Ricci
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Sarasate : Orchestral & Chamber Works
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