Ricordiana
Prepared by Elvidio Surian
Online only (2021)
Ricordiana. Rivista mensile di vita musicale [RII] was published in Milan by Casa Ricordi in thirty monthly issues from February 1955 to December 1957—with interruptions in August and September—each volume containing an average of 400 to 500 pages continuously numbered. Its forerunner was Ricordiana (1951-1954), published as well by Ricordi. Composer Pietro Montani (1895-1967) was its director; musicologist Riccardo Allorto (1921-2015) was its editor.
As stated in the opening pages (febbraio 1955), the primary aim of RII is to offer topics of informative and critical interest concerning the various tendencies of Italian music of the present and past.
The journal is structured as follows:
(1) The opening pages of each issue are reserved for full-page articles—of 3 to 6 pages in length—dedicated generally to biographical sketches and to the works of predominantly Italian contemporary composers. Worthy of notice are the essays on Franco Alfano (febbraio 1955), Vieri Tosatti and O. Respighi (marzo 1955), Gian Carlo Menotti (giugno 1955), Marco Enrico Bossi (ottobre 1955), Ildebrando Pizzetti (novembre 1955), F. Busoni (dicembre 1955, dicembre 1956), Alfredo Casella (aprile 1956), Giuseppe Martucci and Respighi (giugno 1956), Gian Francesco Malipiero (luglio 1956), Riccardo Zandonai (novembre 1956), Lorenzo Perosi (marzo 1957). The entire issue of gennaio 1956 is dedicated to Mozart and to his works performed in Italy and abroad to celebrate the third centenary of his birth. Of particular interest are the essays that exhort the introduction of music education in all Italian public schools (luglio-agosto 1955, gennaio 1956, febbraio 1957). Among the musicologists and music critics who contributed major articles are Massimo Mila, Fabio Fano, Guglielmo Barblan, R. Allorto, Claudio Sartori, Federico Mompellio, Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Piero Santi, Diego Carpitella, and Ottavio Tiby.
(2) Various rubrics, which are printed in a double-column format and which constitute the most cogent and informative section of the journal, are arranged as follows:
(a) “Teatri” and “Concerti”: these feature a detailed, updated account of numerous operatic and concert events in major and minor Italian cities and abroad, including music festivals, radio and television broadcasts of concerts and operas. Among the correspondents from foreign countries are Arthur Jacobs (England), G. Schweitzer (Germany), Willi Reich (Switzerland), Roberto Garcia Morillo (Buenos Aires), Ingrid Haas (Austria), Alfredo Frankenstein (Israel), and Trudy Goth (United States).
(b) “Recensioni”: a rubric of reviews arranged in subsections of books of musical interest, music editions, and LP recordings.
A significant feature of the journal is the regular publication, in the appendix to each issue, of a very precious documentary resource: a detailed and updated list of performances and editions of operatic and instrumental works published by Ricordi.
In January 1958 RII resumed publication under the title Musica d’Oggi. Nuova serie.