Ruggiero Ricci

He was born in San Bruno, California, the son of Italian immigrants who first named him Woodrow Wilson Rich. His brother was cellist George Ricci (1923–2010), originally named George Washington Rich. His sister Emma played violin with the New York Metropolitan Opera. His father first taught him to play the violin. At age seven, Ricci studied with Louis Persinger and Elizabeth Lackey. Persinger would become his piano accompanist for many recitals and recordings. Ricci gave his first public performance in 1928 at the age of 10 in San Francisco where he played works by Wieniawski and Vieuxtemps. He gained a reputation for being a child prodigy. At the age of 11, he gave his first orchestral performance, playing the Mendelssohn concerto, and soon after he had his highly successful debut at Carnegie Hall. In the 1930s Ricci studied in Berlin with Georg Kulenkampff, where he learned a "German style" of playing in the tradition of Adolf Busch. He also studied with Mishel Piastro and Paul Stassevich. He served in the US Army from 1942 until 1945, where he was an "entertainment specialist". In 1947, Ricci was the first violinist to record the complete 24 Caprices, Op. 1, by Paganini, in their original form. Ricci's first recording was on the Decca recording label. After his time in the military, he uncovered many pieces by 19th-century composers that he would perform solo. In 1993, he recorded the Complete Works for Violin and Orchestra by Saint-Saens. He also performed the world premieres of pieces by many contemporary composers, including the violin concertos by Gottfried von Einem, Carlos Veerhoff and Alberto Ginastera. Aside from performing over 6,000 concerts in 65 countries during his 70-year solo career, Ricci also made over 500 recordings, on every major label. He taught violin at Indiana University, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, the Juilliard School and the University of Michigan. He also taught at the University Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. Ricci held master classes in the United States and Europe. He wrote Left Hand Technique, a pedagogical volume for violin published by G. Schirmer. The Persian volume of this book is also published by Mohsen Kazemian, Iran. Ricci owned many precious instruments, including the Guarneri Del Gesù violin known as the ex-Bronisław Huberman of 1734, a Storioni, a Luiz Bellini, a Curtin & Alf, a David Bague and a couple of Regazzi. He played, on 18 September 1997, his fourth recording of the Paganini Caprices on Paganini's own Guarneri, Il Cannone, on loan to him by the City of Genoa, Italy. Ricci died of heart failure in August 2012 at his home in Palm Springs, California, aged 94.

With the aim of showcasing great masterpieces of violin concerto repertoire, Ricci, accompanied by members of the American Symphony Orchestra, performed 15 concertos over a series of four concerts at Lincoln Center's Philharmonic Hall, all in a span of 30 days, under a different conductor each time. 17 November 1964, Gerhard Samuel (1925–2008), conductor Bach – Violin Concerto in E major Mendelssohn – Violin Concerto Hindemith – Kammermusik No. 4 Prokofieff – Violin Concerto No. 2 1 December 1964, Ezra Rachlin, conductor Mozart – Violin Concerto No. 5 Bartók – Violin Concerto No. 2 Tchaikovsky – Violin Concerto 8 December 1964, Jacques Singer, conductor Paganini – Violin Concerto No. 1 Stravinsky – Violin Concerto Brahms – Violin Concerto 16 December 1964, Igor Buketoff, conductor Vivaldi – Four Seasons (counts as 4 concertos) Beethoven – Violin Concerto Ricci reunited with Singer in Portland with the Oregon Symphony, and performed the Paganini, Stravinsky, and Brahms Concertos.