Ricci, Federico
Ricci, Federico
Ricci, Federico , Italian composer, brother of Luigi Ricci; b. Naples, Oct. 22, 1809; d. Conegliano, Dec. 10, 1877. He studied with Zingarelli, Bellini, and his brother Luigi at the Naples Cons. (1818–29). He gained notable success as a composer for the theater with his opera La prigione di Edimburgo (Trieste, March 13, 1838). It was followed by the successful operas Luigi Rolla (Florence, March 30, 1841) and Corrado d’Altamura (Milan, Nov. 16, 1841); however, having established his reputation, he never again was able to duplicate these successes and in subsequent years devoted himself mainly to composing comic operas. In 1853 he was made maître de chapelle of the imperial theaters in St. Petersburg, but this post only involved supervising the vocal classes at the Cons. In 1869 he went to Paris, where he found success with his opéra bouffe Une Folie à Rome (Jan. 30, 1869). He retired to Conegliano in 1876.
Bibliography
F. de Villars, Notices sur Luigi et F. R., suivies d’une analyse critique de “Crispino e la comare” (Paris, 1866); L. de Rada, I fratelli R. (Florence, 1878).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire