Ricordi, Tito (II) (EN)

Ricordi Tito II, *17 May 1865 Milan, †30 March 1933 Milan, Italian music publisher, Guilio’s son. He managed the publishing house in 1912–19, dealing mainly with organisational matters and theatre directing; he left due to disagreements with shareholders. His brothers remained in the company: Emanuele, head of the graphic workshop (†1940) and Luigi, head of the archive (†1944), but in 1919–40, the publishing house was managed jointly by Renzo Valcarenghi (*15 November 1860 Crema, †11 February 1947 Milan) and Carlo Clausetti (*17 October 1869 Naples, †9 August 1943 Fano). R. Valcarenghi started working in the publishing house in 1880, ran branches in Naples and Rome, and in 1888, founded a branch in Palermo. In the interwar period, several companies in South America were bought out, in 1924 a branch was established in Buenos Aires, and in 1927 in São Paulo; the publishing profile was significantly expanded, publishing both more early and contemporary music. In 1940–44, the publishing house was managed by R. Valcarenghi and Alfredo Colombo (*26 September 1877 Cassano Magnano, Lombardy, †11 July 1962 Rapallo), who worked for the company from 1903, and from 1905 was its representative. He was also a co-founder of the Bureau International des Editions Musico-mécaniques, and an honorary member of the legislative committee of the Confédération Internationale des Sociétés d’Auteurs et Compositeurs. In 1944–52, the company was managed by: A. Colombo, Eugenio Clausetti (Carl’s son) and Camillo Ricordi (Emanuele’s son). In 1946, the M. Pasquariello publishing house in Naples was bought, and in 1947, the Romero y Fernandez publishing house in Buenos Aires. New branches were opened: in 1949 in Lörrach (in 1966 moved to Munich) and in Basel, in 1954 in Toronto, in 1956 in Sydney, and in 1958 in Mexico City, while the branch in New York was taken over by the American publishing house Belwin-Mills Publishing Corporation. In 1952, the publishing house was transformed into a limited liability company, and in 1956 into a joint-stock company. The management of the company was taken over by E. Clausetti and Guido Valcarenghi (*6 December 1893 Palermo, †8 September 1967 Milan, son of Renzo), who had worked in the company since 1920, founded and ran branches in Buenos Aires (1924) and São Paulo (1927), in 1952 he returned to Milan. In 1964, he was replaced in the management by Guido Rignano (*16 June 1924 Milan, †28 January 2017 Milan), and then in 1982 by Mimma Guastoni. The production of gramophone records was headed by Carlo Emanuele Ricordi (Camillo’s son). The presidents of the society were: in 1952 A. Colombo, in 1961 G. Valcarenghi, in 1967 Carlo Origoni (grandson of Giulio Ricordi), and in 1982 Gianni Babini. The publishing catalogue, which in 1996 had 137,000 items, includes, among others: works by S. Bussotti, A. Casella, M. Castelnuovo-Tedesco, N. Castiglioni, F. Donatoni, B. Maderna, G.F. Malipiero, G. Manzoni, G.C. Menotti, L. Nono, L. Perosi, G. Petrassi, O. Respighi and E. Wolf-Ferrari, editions of the complete works of G. Rossini, D. Scarlatti and A. Vivaldi, «Istituzioni e Monumenti dell’Arte Musicale Italiana» (1931–39 and 1956–64) and «Antica Musica Strumentale Italiana» (1959–70) and Enciclopedia della musica (4 vols., ed. C. Sartori, Milan 1963–64) and Nuovo Dizionario Ricordi della musica e dei musicisti (ed. R. Allorto, Milan 1976). In cooperation with the University Press of Chicago, a critical edition of G. Verdi’s works was published, and with Pendragon Press in New York, the scores of operas by G.B. Pergolesi, V. Bellini, G. Donizetti and Vivaldi. The Ricordi publishing house also published the following magazines: “Gazzetta musicale di Milano” 1842–1902 (1902–06 as “Musica e musicisti,” 1906–12 as “Ars et labor”), “Rivista minima” 1865–83, “Musica d’oggi” 1919–42, 1958–65 (1951–57 as “Ricordiana”).

In 1994, G. Rignano, on behalf of the shareholders, sold a majority stake in Ricordi to the German Bertelsmann Music Group, and the company operated under the name BMG Ricordi. In 2004, as a result of the merger of the recording activities of Sony and BMG, BMG Ricordi Music Publishing was created. Since 2007, Ricordi has been part of Universal Music Publishing Classical (UMPC), the European leader in classical music publishing.

Literature: C. Sartori Casa Ricordi 1808–1958, Milan 1958; F. Degrada el al. Musica, musicisti, editoria. 175 anni di Casa Ricordi 1808–1983, Milan 1983.