Glenn Miller asked:

>Anybody have any comments on Ricci's version of Bach violin solo
>sonatas...  I cannot find a rating anywhere ...

I remember listening to them on LP (turntable sidelined for a while
sadly) a long time ago. I was always struck by Ricci's sense of intonation
which is very much of the "unequal" tuning school. Leading 7ths (e.g. B
natural in a C minor scale) are very close to their tonic (so sharp to
many ears); descending flattened 7ths (e.g. B flat in a C minor scale)
are much further away (therefore flat to many ears). Major thirds similarly
are a very wide interval to our "equal tuned" ears with minor thirds
markedly flatter.

The whole tuning was more than just a musical foible - it helped the
shape of many of the solo works (as also with the Paganini) in that one
got a distinct feeling of where the music was going and where it had
been coming from.

Christopher Rosevear