2025 Lo Hobbit (Riccardo Ricobello)

The Hobbit

Release Date: 2025.03.31
Reader: Riccardo Ricobello
Language: Italian
Translator: Caterina Ciuferri & Paolo Paron
Organisation: Bompiani
ISBN: 9791221705720
Duration: 11 hours 29 minutes
Unabridged: Yes
Country: Italy
Licenced: Yes
Formats: Digital

Riccardo Ricobello is a professional voice actor and dubber, but he is uniquely qualified for this role because he is well-known within the Italian Tolkien community (AIST – Associazione Italiana Studi Tolkieniani). His knowledge of the lore meant he didn’t just read the book; he reportedly suggested several corrections and improvements for the printed text during the production process.

The recording uses the 2004 revised translation by Caterina Ciuferri and Paolo Paron., published by Bompiani. It replaces the historic, decades-old version and aimed to align more closely with Tolkien’s original philological intent, which was sometimes lost in older, more “flowery” Italian interpretations from the 1970s Adelphi edition.

Ricobello actually sings the poems and songs in the text, rather than reciting them, which is relatively rare. He treats the narrator as a character—an “extravagant uncle” figure (similar to the way Andy Serkis approached the English version). Using distinct dialects and vocal textures for the Trolls (giving them a “Cockney-Italian” rough edge) and Smaug (who speaks with an aristocratic, reptilian hiss).