Italian-born French piano virtuoso Aldo Ciccolini dies aged 89 after a long illness
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Thursday, November 14, 2024


Italian-born French piano virtuoso Aldo Ciccolini dies aged 89 after a long illness
A picture taken on March 14, 2012 in Paris shows French, Italian born pianist, Aldo Ciccolini (R) awarded Commander of the Legion d'honneur (French highest civil award) by then French President Nicolas Sarkozy during a ceremony at the Elysee presidential palace. Ciccolini died in Asnieres, a Paris suburd during the January 31 to February, 1, 2015, aged 89, according to his entourage. AFP PHOTO / POOL / KENZO TRIBOUILLARD.



PARIS (AFP).- Italian-born French piano virtuoso Aldo Ciccolini died overnight at his home in the Paris area after a long illness, his manager said Sunday. He was 89.

He had just returned home last week after spending several weeks in hospital, Paul Blacher told AFP.

Born on August 15, 1925, into a musical family in Naples, Aldo Ciccolini was a child prodigy, beginning composition classes in the city's conservatory at age nine.

The launchpad for his international career was his winning performance of Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto at the prestigious Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud competition in Paris when he was 25.

The triumph prompted his move to the French capital.

Concert tours followed, to Latin America and then New York, where he performed with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Dmitri Mitropoulos.

Ciccolini was known for promoting leading French composers such as Debussy and Ravel as well as the lesser-known Valentin Alkan, Deodat de Severac, Emmanuel Chabrier and Alexis de Castillon. 

He applied his virtuosity, both in the concert hall and the recording studio, to composers as diverse as Bach and Rachmaninov, Grieg and Borodin.

In 1972, he won the prestigious Prix de l'Academie du Disque Francais, and three years later his mastery of Ravel earned him the Prix de l'Academie Charles Cros en 1976.

Ciccolini saw himself not so much as a master but as someone who could pass the baton.

"There is nothing more moving than to see the talent of a young girl or a young boy blossom like a flower," he once said.

He recorded for His Master's Voice from 1950 to 1991, then for EMI France, which recently compiled a box set of his recordings comprising 56 CDs.



© 1994-2015 Agence France-Presse










Today's News

February 2, 2015

Sotheby's London flagship sales of contemporary and post-war art set to be strongest ever

Once-in-a-lifetime Piero di Cosimo retrospective premieres at National Gallery of Art, Washington

Exhibition of recent work by the London-based artist Anish Kapoor opens at Regen Projects

Dark cautionary 'Tale' by George Grosz, painted in the U.S., to be sold in Bonhams sale

Victoria Miro opens exhibition of Sarah Sze's work spanning all three gallery spaces

Carpetbagging or collecting? Investor Frans Broersen mines North Korea's art market

'Sleepless: The Bed in History and Contemporary Art' opens at 21er Haus in Vienna

Solo exhibition of work by Merlin James on view at Sikkema Jenkins & Co.

Vancouver Art Gallery launches its first Google Art Project with Douglas Coupland

Italian-born French piano virtuoso Aldo Ciccolini dies aged 89 after a long illness

Tokyo-based architecture studio Atelier Bow-Wow creates installation for Rice University Art Gallery

Exhibition explores global aspects of trade, trauma, religious belief systems and contested territories

Meijer Gardens' new exhibition showcases Japanese art never before seen outside of Japan

Robert Orchardson goes through the looking glass at Greenwich Peninsula's NOW Gallery

Paintings by Deanna Thompson and two video works by Michel Auder on view at Kayne Griffin Corcoran

Lift off: Fridman Gallery presents the thesis work of six artists who graduated with an MFA degree in 2014

'Cotton to Gold: Extraordinary Collections of the Industrial North West' opens at Two Temple Place

Los Angeles native Michael C. McMillen exhibits at Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art

Aung San Suu Kyi's mansion gates to be auctioned

MACBA presents, for the first time in a museum, the graphic work of Osvaldo Lamborghini

One-of-a-kind Electric Blue Birkin lights up Valentine's Luxury Auction

Exhibition of works by Gerard Hemsworth opens at Thomas Rehbein Galerie

Virginia MOCA spotlights Virginia artists for winter/spring

Site-specific installation by Jordan Doner opens at Serge Sorokko Gallery




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful