Giovanni Ricordi

Ricordi studied the violin from an early age and, for a short time, became the concertmaster and conductor of the small puppet theatre Fiando.

It was through the gradual accession to the rights to control La Scala's archives, as well as subsequently-produced operas, that he was able to bypass the limitations on publishing full scores, and—as Gossett notes—"not be its employee but a private entrepreneur from whom theatres rented materials".

His adopted practices radically changed the music publishing market, ensuring that composers received revenues not only at the time they delivered the composition, but also for the subsequent productions mounted elsewhere.

In 1825 he acquired all the manuscripts belong to the Teatro alla Scala, and began to circulate handwritten copies intended for rental, which alongside the sale of the reductions for soloists and piano, produced another level of demand.

Ricordi befriended many major Italian operatic composers of his time, including Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi whose works he published.