The most complete tribute ever issued to the fiendish fingers and sublime artistry of a true virtuoso, Ruggiero Ricci: a feast of concerto, solo and recital repertoire recorded by Ricci, collected together for the first time, and including a previously unpublished set of the Brahms Violin Sonatas.
Born Roger Rich to an Italian immigrant father on a Californian army base in 1918, he became Ruggiero Ricci when he was introduced to the New York musical public as a child prodigy violinist. By the time of his debut on Decca – the Tchaikovsky Concerto conducted by Sargent in 1950 – he was an experienced performer and recording artist who had already stunned audiences on both sides of the Atlantic with the solo-violin repertoire he would make his own: not only Bach but also Ysaÿe, Wieniawski and most of all Paganini, whose Caprices he was the first to record complete later in 1950. At the close of the Tchaikovsky sessions, the musicians of the New Symphony Orchestra burst into spontaneous applause.
A new and typically illuminating essay by Tully Potter on Ricci’s life and recorded legacy draws on previously unpublished correspondence and sheds light on the background to many of these recordings.
Notable records of Ricci’s famous cantabile in concerto repertoire include a hugely influential Paganini album with Anthony Collins and a gripping account of the Sibelius with Øivin Fjeldstad. There are two recordings of the Mendelssohn (1957 and 1974), the first with another ‘prodigy’, the conductor Piero Gamba, and the second recorded in Decca’s Phase 4 stereo with Jean Fournet. He strikes sparks in partnership with Ernest Ansermet for Ravel’s Tzigane and the solos in Tchaikovsky’s Orchestral Suites. These (Suites Nos. 3 and 4) as well as sections featuring the solo violin, from the Fistoulari ‘Phase 4’ recording of Swan Lake, are included in this collection.
Decca partnered Ricci with several notable pianists for recital repertoire, starting with his former teacher Louis Persinger and including Friedrich Gulda. Many of these chamber recordings (a Sarasate album, sonatas by Weber, Richard Strauss and Prokofiev) were made not in the Decca studios but in Ricci’s home in New Jersey. While he recorded the Second and Third Brahms Sonatas with Julius Katchen in London in 1957, he also taped the cycle of three sonatas at home with Katchen three years earlier. These 1954 performances are issued here for the first time: essential listening for all fans of great violin playing.
“This young American’s really remarkable accuracy in playing the most difficult passages is certain to cause many a trained fiddler to mop his forehead in amazement.” American Record Guide, July 1951 (Paganini Caprices)
“I look forward to more discs by this first-rate duo … His natural elegance … stands him in good stead in the Prokofiev, where his partner at the piano also distinguishes himself by some most artistic leggiero playing.” Gramophone, October 1953 (Prokofiev & Strauss Sonatas)
“There is some truly amazing fiddling here … combining faultlessly brilliant technique with unusually warm tone … A ‘must’ for all violinists.” High Fidelity, October 1954 (Paganini Concertos)
“Mr. Ricci plays them smartly, giving full value to their daring and rather insolent romanticism of 1810.” High Fidelity, December 1954 (Weber Sonatas)
“In a class by itself aloof from the competing editions. Persuasive lyricism from the soloist, very sensitive orchestral leadership, and gracious sound at all points of its range.” High Fidelity, January 1955 (Beethoven Concerto)
“Ricci’s ease of execution has already established him as a first-rank violinist despite his relative youth, and this is displayed here to a remarkable degree. Fistoulari and his Londoners play with precision and feeling throughout, and the balance between soloist and orchestra is well-nigh perfect.” American Record Guide, July 1957 (Khachaturian Concerto)
“[Ricci’s Bruch Concerto] has dignity of conception, an appropriate romantic flow, a glowing tonal characteristic, and an easy command of the mechanics involved. Ricci’s Mendelssohn is also excellently done.” High Fidelity, September 1957 (Bruch, Mendelssohn – Gamba)
“Ricci and Katchen display an impressive understanding of this literature, and the ability to handle the intricate problems of technique, weight, colour and texture with finesse and astute interpretative insight.” American Record Guide, November 1957 (Brahms: Sonata No 2)
“In beauty of tone and in technical address Ricci is near the top among the many fiddlers who have recorded these works … Excellent recording.” High Fidelity, March 1958 (Bach)
“This, the first stereo representation of the Sibelius Concerto, is likely to remain unchallenged for a long time … Ricci is second only to Heifetz in his intrepid technical and virile interpretative traversal.” High Fidelity, August 1959 (Sibelius)
“Astonishingly assured combination of virtuosity and poetic sensibility … so fresh and vivacious that it might have just been composed for Ricci himself. His uncanny technical security has never been more electrifyingly demonstrated.” High Fidelity, April 1962 (Tchaikovsky Concerto – Sargent)
“Ruggiero Ricci is still a prodigy, but a manure one. A violinist possessed of a flawless technique and a silvery tone, Ricci is today a master of rare interpretative skills, and ills: present recordings bear eloquent testimony in this regard.” Stereo Review, April 1962 (Tchaikovsky Concerto – Sargent)
“Ricci’s performance is close to perfection throughout, and so is the recording.” High Fidelity, May 1965 (Hindemith, Bartók, Stravinsky)
CD 1
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827)
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61
Ruggiero Ricci, violin; London Philharmonic Orchestra / Sir Adrian Boult
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893)
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35, TH.59
Ruggiero Ricci, violin; New Symphony Orchestra / Sir Malcolm Sargent
MONO RECORDINGS
CD 2
NICCOLÒ PAGANINI (1782–1840)
Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 6
Violin Concerto No. 2 in B minor, Op. 7
Ruggiero Ricci, violin; London Symphony Orchestra / Anthony Collins
MAURICE RAVEL (1875–1937)
Tzigane – Concert Rhapsody for Violin and Orchestra
Ruggiero Ricci, violin; L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Ernest Ansermet
MONO RECORDINGS (Paganini) ∙ STEREO RECORDING (Ravel)
CD 3
JEAN SIBELIUS (1865–1957)
Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893)
Sérénade mélancolique; Scherzo (from Souvenir d’un lieu cher)
Ruggiero Ricci, violin; London Symphony Orchestra / Øivin Fjeldstad
ARAM KHACHATURIAN (1903–1978)
Violin Concerto in D minor
Ruggiero Ricci, violin; London Philharmonic Orchestra / Anatole Fistoulari
STEREO RECORDINGS
CD 4
FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809–1847)
Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
MAX BRUCH (1838–1920)
Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26
Ruggiero Ricci, violin; London Symphony Orchestra / Piero Gamba
STEREO RECORDINGS
CD 5
SERGEI PROKOFIEV (1891–1953)
Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 19
Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 63
Ruggiero Ricci, violin; L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Ernest Ansermet
STEREO RECORDINGS
CD 6
ÉDOUARD LALO (1823–1892)
Symphonie espagnole, Op. 21
Ruggiero Ricci, violin; L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Ernest Ansermet
PABLO DE SARASATE (1844–1908)
Carmen – Fantaisie de concert, Op. 25
Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20 No. 1
CAMILLE SAINT-SAËNS (1835–1921)
Havanaise, Op. 83
Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 28
Ruggiero Ricci, violin; London Symphony Orchestra / Piero Gamba
STEREO RECORDINGS
CD 7
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893)
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35, TH.59
ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK (1841–1904)
Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 53, B.108
Ruggiero Ricci, violin; London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Malcolm Sargent
STEREO RECORDINGS
CD 8
FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809–1847)
Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64, MWV O14
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893)
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35, TH.59
Swan Lake, Op. 20 (excerpts)
Ruggiero Ricci, violin; Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra / Jean Fournet (Concertos); Anatole Fistoulari (Swan Lake)
STEREO RECORDINGS
CD 9
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893)
Suite No. 3 in G major, Op. 55
Suite No. 4 in G major, Op. 61 ‘Mozartiana’
Ruggiero Ricci, violin; L’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande / Ernest Ansermet
STEREO RECORDINGS
CD 10
NICCOLÒ PAGANINI (1782–1840)
Caprices, Op. 1 (1950 Recording)
MONO RECORDINGS
CD 11
NICCOLÒ PAGANINI (1782–1840)
Caprices, Op. 1 (1959 Recording)
STEREO RECORDINGS
CD 12
BÉLA BARTÓK (1881–1945)
Sonata for Solo Violin, Sz.117
IGOR STRAVINSKY (1882–1971)
Elégie for Solo Violin
SERGEI PROKOFIEV (1891–1953)
Sonata in D major for Solo Violin, Op. 115
PAUL HINDEMITH (1895–1963)
Sonata for Solo Violin, Op. 31 No. 1
Sonata for Solo Violin, Op. 31 No. 2
STEREO RECORDINGS
CD 13
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685–1750)
Sonata No. 1 in G minor for Solo Violin, BWV 1001
Partita No. 2 in D minor for Solo Violin, BWV 1004
ANTON WEBER (1883–1945)
Six Sonates Progressives for Violin and Piano, Op. 10
Carlo Bussotti, piano
MONO RECORDINGS
CD 14
RICHARD STRAUSS (1864–1949)
Violin Sonata in E flat major, Op. 18
SERGEI PROKOFIEV (1891–1953)
Violin Sonata No. 2 in D major, Op. 94a
Carlo Bussotti, piano
MONO RECORDINGS
CD 15
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827)
Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor, Op. 30 No. 2
Violin Sonata No. 10 in G major, Op. 96
Friedrich Gulda, piano
MONO RECORDINGS
CD 16
JOHANNES BRAHMS (1883–1897)
Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 78
Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 100
Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108
Julius Katchen, piano
PREVIOUSLY UNPUBLISHED 1954 RECORDINGS
MONO RECORDINGS
CD 17
JOHANNES BRAHMS (1883–1897)
Violin Sonata No. 2 in A major, Op. 100
Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108
Julius Katchen, piano
MONO RECORDINGS
CD 18
PABLO DE SARASATE (1844–1908)
8 Danzas Españolas
Caprice Basque, Op. 24
Introduction et Tarantelle, Op. 43
Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20
Louis Persinger, piano
MONO RECORDINGS
CD 19
NICCOLÒ PAGANINI (1782–1840)
Le Streghe, Op. 8 (arr. Kreisler)
Fantasia on the G string (after Rossini’s ‘Mosè in Egitto’)
Moto perpetuo, Op. 11
Introduction and Variations on ‘Nel cor più non mi sento’ for solo violin
Variations on ‘God Save the King’, Op. 9
La Campanella (arr. Kochanski)
Sonata in E minor, Op. 3 No. 6
I Palpiti, Op. 13 (arr. Kreisler)
Louis Persinger, piano
MONO RECORDINGS
CD 20
HENRYK WIENIAWSKI (1835–1880)
Scherzo-Tarantelle, Op. 16
EDWARD ELGAR (1857–1934)
La Capricieuse, Op. 17
FRANZ VON VECSEY (1893–1935)
Caprice No. 1 for Violin and Piano: Le Vent
WILLIAM KROLL (1901–1980)
Banjo and Fiddle
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN (1810–1849)
Nocturne No. 20 in C sharp minor, Op. posth. (Trans. Milstein)
BEDŘICH SMETANA (1824–1884)
Andantino (Z domoviny)
JOSEF SUK (1874–1935)
Burleska (Four Pieces for Violin and Piano, Op. 17 No. 4)
JOSEPH ACHRON (1886–1943)
Hebrew Melody
PABLO DE SARASATE (1844–1908)
Jota aragonesa, Op. 27
JENŐ HUBAY (1858–1937)
Der Zephir (from 6 Blumenleben for Violin and Piano, Op. 30 No. 5)
MORITZ MOSZKOWSKI (1854–1925)
Guitarre, Op. 45 No. 2 (arr. Sarasate)
ANTONIO BAZZINI (1818–1897)
La Ronde des Lutins – scherzo fantastique, Op. 25
Ernest Lush, piano
