Ruggiero Ricci facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ruggiero Ricci
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Ruggiero Ricci, 1961
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| Born | 24 July 1918 |
| Died | 5 August 2012 (aged 94) |
| Occupation | violinist, pedagogue |
Ruggiero Ricci (born July 24, 1918, died August 5, 2012) was an amazing American violinist. He was especially famous for playing and recording the challenging music of Niccolò Paganini.
Contents
A Young Talent Discovered
Ruggiero Ricci was born in San Bruno, California. His parents were immigrants from Italy. His first name was Woodrow Wilson Rich, but he later became known as Ruggiero Ricci. He wasn't the only musician in his family! His brother, George, played the cello, and his sister, Emma, played the violin for the famous New York Metropolitan Opera.
Ruggiero's father first taught him to play the violin. When he was just seven years old, he started learning from special teachers named Louis Persinger and Elizabeth Lackey. Mr. Persinger even played the piano with Ruggiero for many of his concerts and recordings.
Early Performances and Fame
Ricci gave his very first public concert in 1928 when he was only 10 years old. This concert was in San Francisco. He played difficult pieces by composers like Wieniawski and Vieuxtemps. People quickly realized he was a child prodigy, meaning he had an amazing talent at a very young age.
When he was 11, he played with an orchestra for the first time. He performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto. Soon after, he had a very successful debut (first performance) at Carnegie Hall, a famous concert venue in New York City.
In the 1930s, Ricci continued his studies in Berlin, Germany, with Georg Kulenkampff. There, he learned a "German style" of playing. He also studied with other teachers like Mishel Piastro and Paul Stassevich.
A Career in Music and Teaching
Ricci served in the US Army from 1942 to 1945 during World War II. He was an "entertainment specialist," which meant he performed for the troops.
In 1947, Ricci made history! He was the first violinist to record all 24 of Paganini's challenging Caprices, Op. 1, exactly as they were written. After his time in the military, he discovered and performed many forgotten pieces by composers from the 1800s. In 1993, he recorded all the Complete Works for Violin and Orchestra by Saint-Saëns. He also performed brand new pieces by modern composers like Gottfried von Einem, Carlos Veerhoff, and Alberto Ginastera.
Ruggiero Ricci had an incredible career that lasted 70 years. He performed over 6,000 concerts in 65 different countries! He also made more than 500 recordings for many major music labels.
Besides performing, Ricci was also a dedicated teacher. He taught violin at important music schools like Indiana University, the Juilliard School, and the University of Michigan in the United States. He also taught at the University Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. Ricci held special teaching sessions called master classes for violin students in the US and Europe. He even wrote a book about violin playing called Left Hand Technique.
Ruggiero Ricci passed away in August 2012 at his home in Palm Springs, California, at the age of 94.
Famous Concert Series
In 1964, Ricci performed a special series of four concerts at Lincoln Center's Philharmonic Hall in New York City. His goal was to show off many great violin concertos. He played 15 different concertos in just 30 days, each time with a different conductor!
- November 17, 1964, with Gerhard Samuel conducting:
- Bach – Violin Concerto in E major
- Mendelssohn – Violin Concerto
- Hindemith – Kammermusik No. 4
- Prokofieff – Violin Concerto No. 2
- December 1, 1964, with Ezra Rachlin conducting:
- Mozart – Violin Concerto No. 5
- Bartók – Violin Concerto No. 2
- Tchaikovsky – Violin Concerto
- December 8, 1964, with Jacques Singer conducting:
- Paganini – Violin Concerto No. 1
- Stravinsky – Violin Concerto
- Brahms – Violin Concerto
- December 16, 1964, with Igor Buketoff conducting:
- Vivaldi – Four Seasons (this counts as 4 concertos!)
- Beethoven – Violin Concerto
Ricci later performed with Jacques Singer again in Portland, Oregon, with the Oregon Symphony. They played the Paganini, Stravinsky, and Brahms Concertos.
Recording Paganini's Caprices
Ruggiero Ricci was the first person to record all 24 of Paganini's Caprices in their original form. He did this in London in 1947. He later made several other recordings of the complete set:
- 1947: The first recording on Decca records.
- 1959: Another recording, made in Geneva.
- 1973: A recording that included a never-before-recorded piece called Caprice d'adieu.
- 1978: A special "Golden Jubilee" recording, made directly to disc.
- 1988: A recording made in Genova, Italy, where he played on Paganini's own famous violin, the "Il Cannone."
- 1998: A live concert recording from Hungary, where the Caprices were played with orchestra accompaniment.
- 1982 & 1987: Video recordings of his performances.
See also
In Spanish: Ruggiero Ricci para niños
