Ruggiero Ricci - Violinist

[Lance]

I've recently acquired a British Decca "twofer" that somehow slipped by me when first issued in year 2000. I am a huge Ricci fan and have always found his Sarasate recordings most appealing, especially the all-Sarasate disc he did for American Decca that has yet to be reissued though the masters are now owned by the Universal Group. Ricci's Spanish Dances with Brooks Smith at the piano (Heifetz's piano accompanist) is the best I've ever heard on that old American Decca stereo LP.

But don't miss this Decca 2-CD set [458.191] of works by Sarasate (including an early version of the Spanish Dances). Also included is the Caprice basque; Introduction and Tarantella, Zigeunerweisen, and Jota aragonesa. The Paganini pieces include Le streghe; Moses in Egypt Fantasy; Moto perpetuo; Variations on Nel cor piu no i sento," and "God Save the King"; La campanella; Sonata No. 12, and I palpiti. Encores include music by Wieniawski, Elgar, Vecsey, Kroll, Chopin/Milstein, Smetana, Suk, Achron, Hubay, Moszkowski, and Bazzini. The pianists include Louis Persinger and Ernest Lush. The discs were made in London in 1952, 1954, and 1958. Decca's sound (in the Spanish Dances) is rather hollow, but Ricci's artistry always shows through. Sound is otherwise quite acceptable throughout. A fabulous set of the early Ricci that I would have really missed had I not caught it!

[oisfetz]

If you like Ricci's Sarasate, you sure have the EMI with Miguel Zanetti playing rarities: Jota Aragonesa, El canto del ruiseñor,Jota de Pablo,Canciones rusas,Zortzico de Iparraguirre,Peteneras y Adios Montañas mias (1978) And to any Ricci's fan, it is a must his 5 CD box on VOX "The art of.."

[Lance]

If you like Ricci's Sarasate, you sure have the EMI with Miguel Zanetti playing rarities: Jota Aragonesa, El canto del ruiseñor,Jota de Pablo,Canciones rusas,Zortzico de Iparraguirre,Peteneras y Adios Montañas mias (1978) And to any Ricci's fan, it is a must his 5 CD box on VOX "The art of.."

Indeed I do have the EMI disc. For those interested the catalogue number is 64559. Miguel Zanetti very frequently accompanied soprano Montserrat Caballé and he is an outstanding assisting artist. Also, the 5-CD Vox set, "The Art of Ruggiero Ricci" is a real keeper, and the catalogue number is 3611. Vox truly has a lot of treasures in their vaults. I hope they keep digging up things!

[oisfetz]

One of the things VOX did disintered is a series of boxes with the (almost) complete Albeniz on piano, by Rena Kuriakou, a great forgoten chiprian pianist. It's Iberia of course, plus many more very rare pieces. Say, Lance, do you have the One-eleven recordings of Ricci?

[Peter Schenkman]

One of the interesting little asides on the superb two disc Ricci set on the Decca label, “Virtuoso Violin” (458 191-2) is the fact that the Louis Persinger correctly identified by Lance as one of the accompanists on the set was also Ricci’s first teacher as well as being Menuhin’s second. Not a bad trick! Another set, this one five discs can be found on a Vox Box (CD5X 3611). It includes a lot of concertos some of them real novelties such as the Fantaisie norvegiene by Lalo; he also plays that same composers Violin Concerto in F, Opus 20 as well as the familiar Symphonie espagnole. The six solo Sonatas by Ysaye appear as well as solo works by Bach and Hindemith. Ricci’s accompanist for the 24 short pieces that fill out the fifth disc is Louis Persinger. Aside from a lot of great violin playing the price when I picked it up was a very affordable $20.00.

The one-eleven recordings of Ricci, and I probably have most of them, are a somewhat mixed bag although one marvels at the sheer amount of repertoire he gets through although not always with world class orchestras. The pride of place for the whole lot is a two disc set consisting of a New York Town Hall recital given on Nov. 21, 1946 consisting entirely of works for unaccompanied violin and the level of playing is simply staggering by any standard. The companion disc is a Carnegie Hall recital from the following year (Oct. 5, 1947). For the occasion he chickens out and pulls in a pianist but the level of performance is still something to marvel at. No lover of great violin playing should miss it, to be found on the one-eleven label (URS-50193).

Peter Schenkman

[Lance]

One of the things VOX did disintered is a series of boxes with the (almost) complete Albeniz on piano, by Rena Kuriakou, a great forgoten chiprian pianist. It's Iberia of course, plus many more very rare pieces. Say, Lance, do you have the One-eleven recordings of Ricci?

I have only TWO of the One-Eleven (111) recordings:

*10002 - Schubert Sonatinas and song transcriptions w/G. Ricci, piano
*92010 - w/S Humphreys, N Rosen, G Karr, etc.

I'm not quite sure how many 111s there were or even if they are still available. Peter, do you have any idea about this?

All told, I have some 18 non-major label listings (includings multi-CD sets such as Dynamic and Vox, and another 8 label listings on major labels (including the Decca multi-CD sets for Ricci and also with Gulda, piano). So there is around 45 total CDs of Ricci playing. I also have a considerable number of LP recordings of which some things have never seen the light of day on CD. Many of these are the American Decca LPs. Ricci is well recorded for sure, and an amazing fiddler!

Regarding Rena Kyriakou - yes, many LP recordings for Vox, and I have always thought her to be an especially gifted pianist. Her Mendelssohn series was incredibly wonderful. But I believe Vox only issued one CD box set from the Mendelssohn series [Songs Without Words and Variations Seriéuses, Op. 54.] I have the Albeniz on LP (was it issued on CD?), and also on Vox, Turnabout, Turnabout/Carlton and Vanguard, any CDs that were issued. I think it was the Mendelssohn Prelude in E Minor that first captured my heart with Kyriakou. Her piano sound was gorgeous. I found out that she used a Bösendorfer Imperial Concert grand piano in the making of her Mendelssohn recordings.

[Auntie Lynn]

I think he's considered something of a "local guy" (SF Bay Area...??). Also one of the best-looking - not that it matters but it sure can't hurt...

[Peter Schenkman]

There are more one-eleven issues of Ricci then I thought; their listing of his releases runs out to over twenty! Repertoire ranges from Bach to Bartok with just about everything you can imagine in-between including some real rarities like Milstein’s transcription of Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz for unaccompanied violin! Live performance of the Ginastera Concerto, Chopin Nocturnes, Gypsy Melodies, etc. etc. etc. Very few manage to come close to learning that much material but in Ricci’s case the answer is he possessed one of the most natural facilities of all time combined with the ability to virtually gobble new works up meaning the guy was one hell of a sight reader.

Peter Schenkman

[oisfetz]

Ricci's repertorie is the most extensive of any violinist on record, death or alive, in special on the great works with orchestra. And he is the last and only survivor of the great violinist of the past century. When he passes away, nobody will be left.