Aldo Ciccolini (; 15 August 1925 – 1 February 2015) was an Italian

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

who became a naturalized French citizen in 1971.

Biography

Aldo Ciccolini was born in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. His father, whose family bore the title of Marquis in the city of Macerata, worked as a typographer. Aldo Ciccolini took his first lessons with Maria Vigliarolo d'Ovidio, and entered Naples Conservatory in 1934 at the age of 9, with special permission of the director, Francesco Cilea. There he studied piano with Paolo Denza, a pupil of

Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...

, and harmony and counterpoint with Achille Longo. He began his performing career playing at the Teatro San Carlo at the age of 16. However, by 1946 he was forced to play in bars to support his family. In 1949, he won, ''ex-aequo'' (tied) with Ventsislav Yankov, the Marguerite Long - Jacques Thibaud Competition in Paris (among the other prizewinners were Paul Badura-Skoda and Pierre Barbizet). He became a French citizen in 1971 and taught at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

from 1970 to 1988, where his students included Akiko Ebi, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Artur Pizarro, Géry Moutier, Nicholas Angelich, André Sayasov and Jean-Luc Kandyoti. Other students included Fabio Mengozzi, Francesco Libetta, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Domenico Piccichè, Ivan Donchev and Jean-Marc Savelli. Ciccolini was a celebrated interpreter and advocate of the piano music of the French composers

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...

Maurice Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

, Charles-Valentin Alkan and

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (born 17 May 18661 July 1925), better known as Erik Satie, was a French composer and pianist. The son of a French father and a British mother, he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, Paris Conservatoire but was an undi ...

as well as that of less prominent composers such as Déodat de Séverac,

Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884 ...

and Alexis de Castillon. Ciccolini was known for his having played the music of the Spanish composers Isaac Albéniz,

Enrique Granados Pantaleón Enrique Joaquín Granados Campiña (27 July 1867 – 24 March 1916), commonly known as Enrique Granados in Spanish or ''Enric Granados'' in Catalan, was a Spanish composer of classical music, and concert pianist from Cat ...

, and Manuel de Falla, as well as of

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

. Soprano Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf said of him "I have hardly met a more wonderful partner and a more delightful companion." On 9 December 1999, he celebrated a career in France spanning 50 years with a recital at the Théâtre des

Champs-Élysées The Avenue des Champs-Élysées (, ; ) is an Avenue (landscape), avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, long and wide, running between the Place de la Concorde in the east and the Place Charles de Gaulle in the west, where the Arc ...

in Paris. In 2008, he was appointed commander of the French National Order of Merit.

Death

Aldo Ciccolini died on 1 February 2015 at his

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

residence, aged 89.

Recordings

Ciccolini made more than a hundred recordings for EMI-Pathé Marconi and other record companies, including the complete sonata cycles of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

and

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

, the complete solo piano work of

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

and two separate cycles of the complete piano works of Satie. In 2002, Ciccolini was awarded the '' Diapason d'Or'' for his recording of the entire solo piano works of Janáček for Abeille Music and of Schumann for Cascavelles. His complete

sonata cycle was re-published by the Cascavelle label in 2006. He also recorded such unusual repertoire as selections from the '' Péchés de vieillesse'' by Rossini and the complete piano music of Massenet.

References

Sources

* Article on Aldo Ciccolini in French Wikipedia *Bellamy, Olivier. ''Courage and silence''. Essay included in ''Aldo Ciccolini: Enregistrements EMI 1950–1991'' EMI 2009

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ciccolini, Aldo 1925 births 2015 deaths 20th-century French male classical pianists 20th-century French classical pianists Italian classical pianists Italian emigrants to France Long-Thibaud-Crespin Competition prize-winners EMI Classics and Virgin Classics artists Musicians from Naples Naturalized citizens of France Academic staff of the Conservatoire de Paris 20th-century Italian musicians Officers of the Legion of Honour Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Commanders of the Ordre national du Mérite 21st-century French male classical pianists 21st-century French classical pianists Erato Records artists