i've been a great fan of his since the early 70's. my teacher was a childhood friend of his in San Francisco, and i've seen him in person maybe 6,7 times. he always brought the house down. but i'm not sure how much value he had as a teacher. he had so much natural talent, i don't know if he could understand the difficulties that normal people have trying to play, because everything came so naturally to him.
This is might seem funny, but it is sort of like a summary of violin technique for Professionals. A beginner wouldn't get to much from this, unless he was ultra talented. Love him, he's on another level of understanding.
I know that he's one of the greats, but I'm baffled by his outright dismissal of the Auer/Russian bow technique. This is the hold used by Kreisler, Milstein, Heifetz, Elman, Haendel, Rosen, Kavakos and many other outstanding artists. To imply that it is fundamentally defective seems perverse. I think a better way to approach this is to understand that each hold has its strengths and weakness which you have to learn to work with, whichever path you choose.
Still the greatest virtuoso of the the 20th century, in the true sense of the word. I dare anyone to find me a better recording of the Mendelssohn Violin concerto than his. It's flawless, in terms of articulation and style and sound.
Very good that you published this video. This is a real treasure and it is wonderful that you shared this with the rest of the world. Ricci was always available and willing to speak about technique, especially left hand. His entire way of life travelled around his daily exercises, which included technique, in the way of scales, legato, staccato, etudes and repertoire.
