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Ruggiero Ricci, violin
London Symphony Orchestra
conductor Pierino Gamba Recorded in 1957 in stereo
Transfers from Decca LP SPA 88 in the Pristine Audio collection
XR remastering by Andrew Rose at Pristine Audio, May 2010
Cover artwork based on a photograph of Ruggiero Ricci
Recorded 15-16 January, 1957, Kingsway Hall, London
First issued in mono as Decca LXT5334 in July 1957
First issued in stereo as Decca SXL2006 in September 1958
Stereo recording produced by Erik Smith, engineered by Cyril Windebank
"Ricci gives very good performances indeed of both concertos; caught out nowhere, even on the margin of intonation, by their technical demands in the outer movements, he manages also to communicate both poetry and impulse to the slow movements.
Indeed the monaural coupling was a strong competitor among the best of each concerto; and the sound, always good, is now further improved by qualities of spaciousness and separation. The latter quality is especially important in concerto recording; for it allows the ear to hold to the solo line against an orchestral accompaniment which might otherwise be in danger of swamping it. In the concert hall, balance in a solo string concerto is seldom ideal, but sometimes manages to deceive the ear into thinking it so largely by a geographical advantage denied monaural recording. Hence the tendency hitherto on records to emphasise the soloist in balance, often with a resulting improvement on the concert hall. Now, in stereo, the two mediums are closer; and the balance on this disc, which in the monaural version seemed sometimes to favour the orchestra, seems in the new version to be ideal.
I am not suggesting that good recording should not continue to pluck up courage and try to improve on the concert hall where that is possible. But I am suggesting that this particular record always was a good one, and is now even better. "
M.M., The Gramophone, October 1958
Notes on the recordings:
This recording dates from a time when Decca was almost certainly unable to release it in its stereo format - the only possible way to hear purchased stereo recordings in a domestic environment at the time was the handful of open-reel tapes commercially available from around 1956. However the new format was clearly imminent, and many recordings like this were made for both mono and stereo release prior the development of the stereo LP and its launch in 1958.
Perhaps as a result, at this time Decca's standard policy was to send out two teams of engineers and producers, each complete with their own recording equipment, microphones and so forth. One team was entirely responsible for the mono recording, the second concentrated on the stereo version. As a result, microphone placement could have been quite different for each, as indeed could microphone types. This suggests therefore that the differences noted above by The Gramophone's perceptive reviewer could have been due to more than simply the ability to hear the work with a full stereo spread before him.
Of course later mono issues were simply reworkings of their stereo masters, summing the two channels to produce a single central mono recording. The Ricci however was made at a time when greater differences than the mere opening up of a soundstage might be heard, and thus further judgements needed to be made between the merits of each issue.
These recordings are certainly very good indeed for their era. I worked from a later pressing, in mint condition, for the transfers presented here, something which obviously eases my workload. However I was able to bring to the recordings some considerable improvements - XR remastering produced results akin to lifting a sonic veil from the originals, considerably sweetening Ricci's upper treble tone and bringing the whole recording several steps closer to the listener. When heard side by side with the original the effect is immediate and utterly convincing - the 1958 recording sounds dull and dusty; the 2010 XR remastering sounds almost as if it had been recorded last week.
He is the son of Italian immigrants. 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 Henryk Wieniawski and Henri Vieuxtemps. He gained a reputation for being a child prodigy. At the age of 11, he gave his first orchestral performance, playing the Mendelssohnconcerto, and soon after he had his highly successful debut at Carnegie Hall.
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, on the Shellac recording label (he has since made three other recordings of the caprices). After his time in the military, he uncovered many pieces by 19th-century composers that he would perform solo. He has also performed the world premieres of pieces by many contemporary composers.
Aside from performing over 6,000 concerts in 65 countries during his 70-year solo career, Ricci has also made over 500 recordings on every major label. He has taught violin at Indiana University, the Juilliard School and the University of Michigan. He also taught at the University Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. Ricci has held master classes in the United States and Europe. He also wrote a book Left Hand Technique published by G. Schirmer.
Ricci has owned many precious instruments, including the Guarneri Del Gesù violin known as the ex-Bronisław Huberman of 1734, a fine Storioni, a Bellini, a Curtin & Alf, a Bague and a couple of Regazzi. He played his fourth recording of the Paganini Caprices on Paganini's own Guarneri on loan to him by the City of Genoa, Italy.
Pierino Gamba
Biographical notes from Wikipedia
Piero Gamba, also called Pierino Gamba (born 16 December 1936) is an Italian orchestral conductor and pianist.
Gamba was born in 1936. He first came to attention as a child prodigy.
He won the Arnold Bax Memorial Medal in 1962. He was, among others, the musical director and conductor of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra from 1971 till 1980. He was the chief conductor of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in Australia from 1983 to 1986, and conducted many other Australian orchestras during this time. He was the musical director and conductor of the SODRE National Symphonic Orchestra of Uruguay from 1994 till 1995 as well as from 2001 till 2004.
Piero Gamba currently lives in New York City, pursuing his career and teaching orchestra conducting.
Piero Gamba is Honorary Conductor for Life of the following orchestras:
Piero Gamba was one of the founders of Symphonicum Europae Foundation, an institution who's aim is to promote greater harmony of mankind through the arts.
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out more:
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto 1st mvt. - Allegro molto appassionato
(Stereo)
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