Ricordi
NAME: Ricordi, Giulio.
ACHIEVEMENT(S): Music promoter
NICKNAME/ALIAS: J. Burgmein (or sometimes Grubmeni).
DATE/PLACE OF BIRTH: 19th December 1840, in Milan, Italy.
DATE/PLACE/AGE AT DEATH: 6th June 1912, at Milan, Italy. Aged 71.
DISCIPLINE: Publisher.
FIELD: Music.
LANGUAGE: Italian.
PARENTS: Tito Ricordi and ?
SIBLINGS:
SPOUSE:
CHILDREN: Tito Ricordi (1865-1933).
EDUCATION:
MAJOR WORK:
LIFE AND TIMES: Little is known about Ricordi’s early life in a family, of Spanish descent, who settled in Milan and created one of the world’s leading music publishing houses. His grandfather, Giovanni and his father, Tito, both had great business acumen, as well as being musicians in their own right.
In addition to these qualities, Ricordi was both cultured and gifted in languages and literature. As a musician, he wrote under the pseudonym of “J Burgmein” and sometimes “Grubmeni,” publishing a great many piano pieces, some works for orchestra and an opera, ‘La Secchia Rapita,’ first performed in Turin, in 1910. Ricordi’s talent as a composer was praised at various times by both <a fan was> Verdi* and <a fan was> Puccini*, the latter particularly praising his ‘Hungarian Fantasy,’ performed in Lucca, Italy, in 1898.
Ricordi never achieved eminence or real fame as a composer, but his experience in music, combined with his other talents, made him an excellent judge of operatic music and enabled him to give good and practical advice to the composers represented by the publishing house.
He worked for his father part-time from 1856 and permanently from 1863. One of the rules of the company was that, once a composer was under contract the Ricordi’s had complete veto over his work. Because of the great distinction in being taken on by the Ricordi’s, this unusual contractual clause was accepted by many of the leading composers of the time.
In his time as head of the House of Ricordi, Giulio used his power of veto to great effect by blackmailing the leading opera production companies. He regularly threatened that, if they would not accept works by his personal protégés, they would lose the opportunity to perform the works of some of the greatest operatic composers.
In this way, the House of Ricordi was able to dominate the world’s great opera houses.
His most powerful weapon was the company’s relationship with Verdi,. lasting since Ricordi’s grandfather’s time At that time, Verdi was considered by many to be the greatest living Italian composer.
One of the many recipients of Ricordi’s patronage was Puccini, who benefited greatly from Ricordi’s ability to pressurize the opera houses and who was, luckily for him, looked on by Ricordi as a son.
With all his talent and flair for business, however, Ricordi didn’t always get it right. He refused to publish works by <turned down> Bizet*, Leoncavallo and Mascagni. Despite such lapses in business acumen, Ricordi took the company, already established in Milan, London and Paris, to greater heights, opening branches in Leipzig, in 1901 and New York, in 1911.
Guilio's son Tito, who succeeded him, lacked both his charm and judgement. He and his father’s protégé, Puccini, disliked each other and Puccini had 'La Rondine' published by Ricordi's rival Sonzogno. When Tito retired in 1919, the management of the business passed out of the hands of the family, although the company continued to expand and exists to this day.
ASSESSMENT: Head of the publishing house essentially responsible for the development of many of the great composers of the 19th century.
ONELINER: Giulio Ricordi, great 19th-century music publisher
EXTRA CONNECTIONS: He published <published> Rossini*, and <published> Donizetti*
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Carner, Mosco, Puccini: A Critical Biography, London: Duckworth, 1992.