Luigi Ricci (composer)

Luigi Ricci (8 July 1805 – 31 December 1859), was an Italian composer, particularly of operas.He was the elder brother of Federico Ricci, with whom he collaborated on several works.

Life

Ricci born and educated in Naples, where he wrote his first opera at the conservatory in 1823. His triumphs in 1831 at La Scala with "Chiara di Rosembergh" and in 1834 with "Un'avventura di Scaramuccia" made him famous throughout Europe, and in 1835 he and his younger brother Federico collaborated in the first of the four operas they wrote together.

In 1837 Luigi ran into financial problems, brought about mainly by his extravagant life-style. He was forced to accept a job at Trieste, and he composed no operas for seven years. Then, however, he fell in love, both at the same time, with Francesca and Ludmila, the 17-year-old twin sisters of the singer Teresa Stolz, and this inspired him to create (in 1845) an opera for them both to sing in, at Odessa. Back in Trieste he married Ludmila (without, however, letting go of the other). He then composed three more operas on his own, which were well received, although his greatest success of these years was actually "Crispino e la comare", his last collaboration with his brother, of which he wrote the greater part.

Comedy was Luigi's strong suit, and though not quite reaching the level of Donizetti (whom he himself greatly admired), "Crispino" is generally considered one of the best Italian comic operas of the period.

In 1859, shortly after the production of his last opera, Luigi succumbed to mental illness, and he ended his life in a hospital in Prague.

His daugher Lella Ricci (with Ludmila, 1850-71) was opera singer, his son Luigi Ricci-Stolz (with Francesca, 1852-1906) was composer.

Operas

*"L'impresario in angustie" (1823)
*"La cena frastornata" (1824)
*"L'abbate Taccarella, ovvero Aladino" (1825; also produced as "La gabbia de' matti", "Poeta Taccarella", etc.)
*"Il sogno avverato" (with D. Pogliani-Gagliardi and possibly N. Zingarelli, 1825)
*"Il diavolo condannato nel mondo a prender moglie" (also produced as "Il diavolo mal sposato", 1826)
*"La lucerna di Epitteto" (1827)
*"Ulisse in Itaca" (1828)
*"Il Colombo" (1829)
*"Amina, ovvero L'orfanella di Ginevra" (1829)
*"Il sonnambulo" (1829)
*"Fernando Cortez, ovvero L'eroina del Messico" (1830)
*"Annibale in Torino" (1830)
*"La neve" (1831)
*"Chiara di Rosembergh" (La Scala, Milan, 1831; also produced as "Chiara di Montalbano" in France, 1835)
*"Il nuovo Figaro" (1832)
*"I due sergenti" (1833)
*"Un'avventura di Scaramuccia" (1834)
*"Gli esposti, ovvero Eran due or son tre" (1834)
*"Chi dura vince, ovvero La luna di miele" (1834) (revised by Federico Ricci as "La petite comtesse", 1876);
*"La serva e l'ussero" (1835)
*"Il colonello" (with Federico Ricci), 1835), also produced as La donna colonello;
*"Il disertore per amore" (with Federico Ricci), 1836)
*"Le nozze di Figaro" (1838)
*"La solitaria delle Asturie" (1845)
*"L'amante di richiamo" (with Federico Ricci), 1846)
*"Il birraio di Preston" (1847)
*"Crispino e la Comare" (with Federico Ricci) (Venice San Benedetto 28 February 1850)
*"La festa di Piedigrotta" (1852)
*"Il diavolo a quattro" (1859)

Bibliography

*The Viking Opera Guide, ed. Amanda Holden with Nicholas Kenyon and Stephen Walsh, Viking (1993) ISBN 0-670-81292-7

External links

* [http://www.belcantosociety.org/pages/ricci.html Short biography of Ricci brothers]

Persondata
NAME=Ricci, Luigi
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Italian opera composer
DATE OF BIRTH=8 July 1805
PLACE OF BIRTH=Napoli
DATE OF DEATH=31 December 1859
PLACE OF DEATH=Prague