ALDO CICCOLINI

Aldo Ciccolini was born in Naples, where he studied the piano and conducting, heir, through his teachers, to the traditions of Ferruccio Busoni and Liszt. He made his début at the age of sixteen in 1941 at the Naples Teatro San Carlo, going on to win the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition in 1949. His career has brought collaboration with Furtwängler, Ansermet, Cluytens, Mitropoulos, Münch, Maazel, Kleiber, Prêtre, Ceccato, Gavazzeni, Martinon, Monteux, Plasson and many others, including Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. His many recordings include works by Massenet, Chabrier, Schubert, Schumann, Scarlatti, Liszt, Spanish composers, the complete Sonatas of Mozart and Beethoven, and the piano compositions of Debussy for which he was awarded the Diapason d’Or in 1993. In 2002 Ciccolini was awarded the Diapason d’Or for his recording of the complete solo piano works of Janáček and Schumann, and in 2003 for his recording of Chopin’s Nocturnes. Other honours include Accademico di Santa Cecilia, Officier de la Légion d’Honneur, Ordre National du Mérite, Commandeur des Arts et Lettres, Prix Edison de l’Académie Charles Cros, the French Grand Prix du Disque, three times, and the Gold Medal of Art and Culture from the President of the Italian Republic.