Ricci

There are certain violin soloists who have adopted their instrument as a real extension of his soul. This is - nor more neither less- the case of Ruggiero Ricci a virtuosi who seems to be cold at the first bars of every piece ( as a matter iof fact I had the chance to watch him four times between 1976 and 1985 in Caracas), but once you are involved in the mood of the piece he conveys us to new horizons, thanks his amazing technique and voluptuous sensibility.

There are certain violin soloists who have adopted their instrument as a real extension of his soul. This is - nor more neither less- the case of Ruggiero Ricci a virtuosi who seems to be cold at the first bars of every piece ( as a matter iof fact I had the chance to watch him four times between 1976 and 1985 in Caracas), but once you are involved in the mood of the piece he conveys us to new horizons, thanks his amazing technique and voluptuous sensibility.

Collected together for the first time are all of RUGGIERO RICCI’s nine solo albums taped for American Decca between 1960 and 1970. The sessions brought concertos by Vivaldi (The Four Seasons with an all-Stradivarius ensemble), Paganini and Saint-Sa?ns as well as several concept albums. ‘The Glory of Cremona’, a recording ‘that all fiddle fanciers will insist on having’ (Stereo Review) saw him play fifteen priceless violins. The 1967 traversal of the complete Bach Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin were described by Gramophone as ‘a miracle’. One of the last century’s most spell-binding technicians on the violin, Ricci was a complete musician, to whom this set pays eloquent tribute.

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solo and recital repertoire recorded by Ricci, collected together for the first time, and including a previously unpublished set of the Brahms Violin Sonatas.

This recording presents 16 different cadenzas for this work, written by Ferruccio Busoni, Joseph Joachim, Edmund Singer, Hugo Heermann, Leopold Auer, Eugène Ysaÿe, Franz Ondricek, Franz Kneisel, Henri Marteau, Fritz Kreisler, Donald Francis Tovey, Jan Kubelik, Adolf Busch, Jascha Heifetz, Nathan Milstein, and Ruggiero Ricci. Each cadenza is tracked separately and can be programmed by the listener into the concerto.