Biography
Luca Ranieri stands among Italy’s foremost string players, holding the principal viola post for an extended period with the RAI National Symphony Orchestra while regularly appearing as a soloist alongside internationally prominent conductors. His discography includes a viola transcription of Bach’s unaccompanied cello suites, along with releases on the Camerata, Brilliant Classics, and Dynamic imprints; the last of these features his 2024 account of Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for violin, viola, and orchestra, K. 364.
Born in Brescia in 1967, Ranieri pursued studies at Milan’s Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory under Emilio Poggioni and completed the program with highest distinction. After prevailing in an audition for an open viola position, he performed with the La Scala Theater Orchestra between 1993 and 1999. He subsequently became a member of the RAI National Symphony Orchestra, Italy’s principal radio and television ensemble. His first appearance on disc came in 1999 with Naxos, in a program of concertos by Johann Nepomuk Hummel. Additional projects with I Solisti di Perugia yielded, among other titles, Viotti: Three Quatuors Concertants in 2010. His debut recital album presented the complete Bach Six Suites for solo cello, BWV 1007-1012, in Watson Forbes’s transcriptions (2011).
While maintaining his RAI affiliation into the mid-2020s, Ranieri has sustained an active independent career, appearing with the Cameristi della Scala Orchestra, I Pomeriggi Musicali of Milan, the Orchestra di Padova, and additional groups. Violist Yuri Bashmet invited him to perform at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. His collaborations onstage have included work under Giuseppe Sinopoli, Lorin Maazel, and Riccardo Chailly. In 2018 he moved to Brilliant Classics to record Paul Hindemith’s Four Sonatas for viola solo. One of his signature repertory items remains Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante; the 2024 Dynamic release united him with violinist Alessandro Milani and the Nuova Orchestra da Camera Ferruccio Busoni for that work.
Born in Brescia in 1967, Ranieri pursued studies at Milan’s Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory under Emilio Poggioni and completed the program with highest distinction. After prevailing in an audition for an open viola position, he performed with the La Scala Theater Orchestra between 1993 and 1999. He subsequently became a member of the RAI National Symphony Orchestra, Italy’s principal radio and television ensemble. His first appearance on disc came in 1999 with Naxos, in a program of concertos by Johann Nepomuk Hummel. Additional projects with I Solisti di Perugia yielded, among other titles, Viotti: Three Quatuors Concertants in 2010. His debut recital album presented the complete Bach Six Suites for solo cello, BWV 1007-1012, in Watson Forbes’s transcriptions (2011).
While maintaining his RAI affiliation into the mid-2020s, Ranieri has sustained an active independent career, appearing with the Cameristi della Scala Orchestra, I Pomeriggi Musicali of Milan, the Orchestra di Padova, and additional groups. Violist Yuri Bashmet invited him to perform at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. His collaborations onstage have included work under Giuseppe Sinopoli, Lorin Maazel, and Riccardo Chailly. In 2018 he moved to Brilliant Classics to record Paul Hindemith’s Four Sonatas for viola solo. One of his signature repertory items remains Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante; the 2024 Dynamic release united him with violinist Alessandro Milani and the Nuova Orchestra da Camera Ferruccio Busoni for that work.
Albums
Brahms: Sonatas for Viola & Piano
2025
Mozart: Adagio & Fugue in C Minor, K. 546 (Version for String Orchestra), Sinfonia concertante in E-Flat Major, K. 364 & Symphony No. 27 in G Major, K. 199
2024
Hindemith: 4 Sonatas for Viola Solo
2018
Krommer: Quartetti per clarinetto e archi, Op. 69 - 82 - 83 (Clarinet Quartets)
1995