Ruggiero Ricci: Complete American Decca Recordings | Australian Eloquence ELQ4841988

Ruggiero Ricci: Complete American Decca Recordings

£45.55

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Label: Australian Eloquence

Cat No: ELQ4841988

Format: CD

Number of Discs: 9

Release Date: 19th November 2021

Contents

Works

Bach, Johann Sebastian

Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin (complete), BWV1001-1006

Brahms, Johannes

Hungarian Dances (21), WoO1
» no.17 in F sharp minor (arr. Kreisler)
» no.20 in E minor (arr. Kreisler)

Bruch, Max

Violin Concerto no.1 in G minor, op.26 (excerpt)

Desplanes, Jean-Antoine

Intrada

Ernst, Heinrich Wilhelm

Airs hongrois varies, op.22
Variations on 'The Last Rose of Summer' (Etude no.6)

Handel, George Frideric

Flute Sonata in B minor, op.1 no.9, HWV367b
» Andante (arr. as 'Larghetto' by Jeno Hubay)

Hubay, Jeno

Le Luthier de Cremone
» Violin solo, op.40a

Kabalevsky, Dmitry

Improvisation for piano and violin, op.21 no.1

Kreisler, Fritz

Caprice viennois, op.2
Chanson Louis XIII and Pavane (in the style of Couperin)
La Chasse (in the style of Cartier)
La Gitana
Old Viennese Melodies (3)
Praeludium and Allegro (in the style of Pugnani)
Rezitativ and Scherzo Caprice, op.6
Rondino on a theme by Ludwig van Beethoven
Sicilienne and Rigaudon (in the style of Francoeur)
Tambourin chinois, op.3
The Old Refrain
Variations on a theme of Corelli (in the style of Tartini)

Locatelli, Pietro

L'Arte del Violino: Violin Concertos (12), op.3
» no.12 in D major 'Il labirinto armonico': Capriccio

Mendelssohn, Felix

Songs without Words (Lieder ohne Worte): Book 5, op.62
» no.1 in G major (arr. Kreisler)

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus

Piano Sonata no.4 in E flat major, K282
» I Adagio (arr. Carl Friedberg)

Nardini, Pietro

Violin Sonata in B flat major
» Larghetto [Adagio] (arr. Ferdinand David)

Paganini, Nicolo

Cantabile e Valtz in E major, op.19 MS45
Introduction and Variations on 'Nel cor piu non mi sento' by Paisiello, op.38 MS44
Sonata and Variations on a theme by Joseph Weigl, op.29
Sonatas for violin and guitar (6), op.3 MS27
» no.6 in E minor
Variations for solo violin on 'God Save the King', op.9 MS56
Violin Concerto no.2 in B minor, op.7

Paradis, Maria Theresia von

Sicilienne

Prokofiev, Sergei

Sonata for 2 violins in C major, op.56

Saint-Saens, Camille

Fantaisie in A major, op.124
Violin Concerto no.1 in A major, op.20

Sarasate, Pablo de

Caprice basque, op.24
Danzas Espanolas (8)
Introduction et Tarantelle, op.43
Serenade andalouse, op.28

Schumann, Robert

Romances (3), op.94
» no.2 in A major (arr. F Kreisler)

Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich

Souvenir d'un lieu cher, op.42
» no.3 Melodie

Vecsey, Franz von

Le Vent (Caprice no.1 in A minor)

Veracini, Francesco

Sonate accademiche (12), op.2
» no.6 in A major: Largo

Villa-Lobos, Heitor

Suite for voice and violin

Vivaldi, Antonio

The Four Seasons (Le quattro stagioni)
Violin Sonatas (12), op.2
» Sonata no.2 in A major, RV31
» Sonata no.7 in C minor, RV8: Preludio

Wieniawski, Henryk

L'Ecole moderne, op.10
» no.6 Les Arpeges: Variations sur l'hymne autrichien

Artists

Ruggiero Ricci (violin)
Gloria Agostini (harp)
Kenneth Cooper (harpsichord)
David Nadien (violin)
Leon Pommers (piano)
Brooks Smith (piano)
Rolando Valdes-Blain (guitar)
Lee Venora (soprano)
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Stradivarius Chamber Orchestra

Conductor

Max Rudolf

Works

Bach, Johann Sebastian

Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin (complete), BWV1001-1006

Brahms, Johannes

Hungarian Dances (21), WoO1
» no.17 in F sharp minor (arr. Kreisler)
» no.20 in E minor (arr. Kreisler)

Bruch, Max

Violin Concerto no.1 in G minor, op.26 (excerpt)

Desplanes, Jean-Antoine

Intrada

Ernst, Heinrich Wilhelm

Airs hongrois varies, op.22
Variations on 'The Last Rose of Summer' (Etude no.6)

Handel, George Frideric

Flute Sonata in B minor, op.1 no.9, HWV367b
» Andante (arr. as 'Larghetto' by Jeno Hubay)

Hubay, Jeno

Le Luthier de Cremone
» Violin solo, op.40a

Kabalevsky, Dmitry

Improvisation for piano and violin, op.21 no.1

Kreisler, Fritz

Caprice viennois, op.2
Chanson Louis XIII and Pavane (in the style of Couperin)
La Chasse (in the style of Cartier)
La Gitana
Old Viennese Melodies (3)
Praeludium and Allegro (in the style of Pugnani)
Rezitativ and Scherzo Caprice, op.6
Rondino on a theme by Ludwig van Beethoven
Sicilienne and Rigaudon (in the style of Francoeur)
Tambourin chinois, op.3
The Old Refrain
Variations on a theme of Corelli (in the style of Tartini)

Locatelli, Pietro

L'Arte del Violino: Violin Concertos (12), op.3
» no.12 in D major 'Il labirinto armonico': Capriccio

Mendelssohn, Felix

Songs without Words (Lieder ohne Worte): Book 5, op.62
» no.1 in G major (arr. Kreisler)

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus

Piano Sonata no.4 in E flat major, K282
» I Adagio (arr. Carl Friedberg)

Nardini, Pietro

Violin Sonata in B flat major
» Larghetto [Adagio] (arr. Ferdinand David)

Paganini, Nicolo

Cantabile e Valtz in E major, op.19 MS45
Introduction and Variations on 'Nel cor piu non mi sento' by Paisiello, op.38 MS44
Sonata and Variations on a theme by Joseph Weigl, op.29
Sonatas for violin and guitar (6), op.3 MS27
» no.6 in E minor
Variations for solo violin on 'God Save the King', op.9 MS56
Violin Concerto no.2 in B minor, op.7

Paradis, Maria Theresia von

Sicilienne

Prokofiev, Sergei

Sonata for 2 violins in C major, op.56

Saint-Saens, Camille

Fantaisie in A major, op.124
Violin Concerto no.1 in A major, op.20

Sarasate, Pablo de

Caprice basque, op.24
Danzas Espanolas (8)
Introduction et Tarantelle, op.43
Serenade andalouse, op.28

Schumann, Robert

Romances (3), op.94
» no.2 in A major (arr. F Kreisler)

Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich

Souvenir d'un lieu cher, op.42
» no.3 Melodie

Vecsey, Franz von

Le Vent (Caprice no.1 in A minor)

Veracini, Francesco

Sonate accademiche (12), op.2
» no.6 in A major: Largo

Villa-Lobos, Heitor

Suite for voice and violin

Vivaldi, Antonio

The Four Seasons (Le quattro stagioni)
Violin Sonatas (12), op.2
» Sonata no.2 in A major, RV31
» Sonata no.7 in C minor, RV8: Preludio

Wieniawski, Henryk

L'Ecole moderne, op.10
» no.6 Les Arpeges: Variations sur l'hymne autrichien

Artists

Ruggiero Ricci (violin)
Gloria Agostini (harp)
Kenneth Cooper (harpsichord)
David Nadien (violin)
Leon Pommers (piano)
Brooks Smith (piano)
Rolando Valdes-Blain (guitar)
Lee Venora (soprano)
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Stradivarius Chamber Orchestra

Conductor

Max Rudolf

About

Several legendary but long-unavailable recordings freshly remastered in a comprehensive ‘original covers’ boxset of Ruggiero Ricci’s recordings made for American Decca during the 1960s and issued collectively for the first time.

With definitive accounts of the Tchaikovsky Concerto and the Paganini Caprices recorded in 1950, Ruggiero Ricci became established as a Decca artist in the early days of LP. A decade later he began recording for Decca’s American division, and between 1960 and 1970 he made nine albums of solo, recital and concerto repertoire which are gathered here in one set for the first time. Ricci had already recorded some of the solo Bach Sonatas and Partitas, but in 1967 he made his first complete set for American Decca. Tully Potter’s illuminating booklet essay explains how a snowstorm forced Ricci to hole up in a hotel for several days prior to the sessions, and he devoted his time to perfecting his interpretations of Bach.

Ricci was renowned for the astonishing virtuosity that enabled him to tackle the Caprices and Concertos of Paganini without breaking sweat – he became the first great exponent of the composer in the LP era with his Decca recordings –  and he remade the Second Concerto for American Decca in 1964 with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Max Rudolf: one of several albums here receiving its first international release on CD.

The American Decca legacy of Ricci also included several ‘concept albums’ which soon became collector’s items. The set opens with the first of them from 1964, on which the violinist plays The Four Seasons of Vivaldi on four different Strads, one for each concerto, with a string ensemble fielding another ten Strads for a uniquely rich string sound.

Two years earlier, Ricci had made “The Glory of Cremona”, which saw him play fifteen priceless violins in sessions attended by two security guards. Even these two projects pale beside the astonishing virtuosity on display in “Bravura!”, which collects some of Ricci’s favourite “knuckle-breakers” by Paganini, Wieniawski and Ernst. The set closes with another album new to CD, “Violin Plus 1” from 1970, which paired Ricci with five different musicians for a unique display of his versatility, accompanying soprano Lee Venora in Villa-Lobos, taking the spotlight in a Saint- Saëns Fantaisie for violin and harp, and meeting David Nadien as an equal in the Sonata for Two Violins by Prokofiev. As well as 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.

“He plays most beautifully in both works, displaying a silvery, lustrous tone and a lean, assertive, bravura style.” – High Fidelity, May 1965 (Paganini, Saint-Saëns concertos)

“Ricci is his customary virtuoso self, yet perhaps even more admirable for his variety of tonal colouring than for his sheer technical dexterity … [an] imaginatively chosen, scintillatingly played, and powerfully recorded program.” – Stereo Review, March 1966 (Paganini, Saint-Saëns concertos)

“Altogether brilliant performances here. The warmth of his tone on the G string, the clarity of his harmonics, his clean spiccato bowing, and the overall Hispanic quality of his glowing interpretations add up to superlative fiddling.” – High Fidelity, May 1962 (Sarasate)

“Ricci plays with fervour and sparkling buoyancy throughout … Decca's sound is pure and gleaming.” – High Fidelity, July 1962 (Kreisler)

“This recording is one that all fiddle fanciers will insist on having … Ricci plays everything with gorgeous tone and impeccable technique.” – Stereo Review, February 1964 (“The Glory of Cremona”)

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