Italian-born pianist Aldo Ciccolini was always known to have a French soul. With an affinity for French composers and with more than 50 albums recorded, the famous musician who championed a French repertoire died Saturday night, Jan. 31, at age 89.
Shortly after returning home to Asnières-sur-Seine in the Parisian suburbs from undisclosed treatments, his death was announced by his manager and fellow pianist Paul Blacher, according to NPR.
Ciccolini entered the Naples Conservatory as a 9-year-old, where he studied with pupil Paolo Denza. He made his debut at 16 in a concert at the Teatro San Carlo and tied for first place with Ventsislav Yankov in the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Competition in Paris in 1949.
The win launched his career as a performer in France.
British pianist Mark Bebbington reflected on his teacher Ciccolini, saying, "I was completely mesmerized by him. By the color, not only in his own playing but the color that he encouraged from all of his students."
He continued, "Imagination was everything to him. He always said that the most important sound was the sound he heart in his head before he actually created contact with the keyboard."
Ciccolini also tackled a non-French repertoire with music from Schubert, Beethoven and Mozart in his arsenal. He made his American debut in 1950 with the New York Philharmonic under Dmitri Mitropoulos, playing Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto.
A world-renonwned and most celebrated pianist, Ciccolini will be deeply missed.
For now, here he is playing Satie:
