Ricordi, Giulio
Ricordi Giovanni, *1785 Milan, †15 March 1853 Milan, Italian music publisher. He was the first violinist at the Fiando Theatre in Milan, probably in 1803 he opened a music copying shop, in 1804–07 he was a copyist and prompter at the Teatro Carcano and in 1807 at the Teatro del Lentasio in Milan. In 1807, he studied musical engraving with Breitkopf and Härtel in Leipzig. In 1808, he founded an engraving and printing company in Milan together with the sheet music seller and printer Felice Festa, whom he left after six months of cooperation. From July 1808 to 1853 he managed the company himself; initially, it published 30 items a year, the publishing catalogue from 1814 included 176 items, and in 1838 there were already 10,000 publications. In 1811, he became a publisher at the conservatory in Milan. From December 1814, he was a copyist and prompter at La Scala and obtained the right to publish operas performed there. In 1824, he moved the company to the former premises of F. Artaria opposite La Scala, in 1825, he acquired the entire archive of La Scala and published all piano extracts of G. Rossini’s operas. In 1837, he purchased the publishing house of F. Artaria, and in 1840 the small company of Gaetano Longo di Este. Giovanni Ricordi had the exclusive right to publish the scores of operas performed in Milan, Venice and Naples. In 1844, he opened a new shop next to La Scala’s building called Casino Ricordi and published the first scores of G. Verdi’s operas. In 1824-60, there was a branch of the Ricordi company in Florence under various names, and from 1824 to 1828 in London a branch of Grua Ricordi et Co. By the end of his life, Giovanni Ricordi published 25,000 titles. He was also involved in improving copyright and publishing law in Italy.
Literature: C. Sartori Casa Ricordi 1808–1958, Milan 1958; F. Degrada et al. Musica, musicisti, editoria. 175 anni di Casa Ricordi 1808–1983, Milan 1983.