Aldo Ciccolini plays Athens
Recognized worldwide as the pianist who revived the music of Erik Satie, his recordings of the French composer’s works by EMI are legendary. Leading soloist Aldo Ciccolini comes to Greece this week and is scheduled to appear at the Athens Concert Hall’s Friends of Music Hall tomorrow at 8.30 p.m. At the age of 80, Ciccolini is one of the few prominent pianists of his generation who continue to appear in concert halls and theaters around the world. With a family stemming from Parma and Sardinia, Ciccolini was born in Naples in 1925, where he studied piano and conducting. Over the course of his studies next to great teachers, he acquired a taste for the musical heritage of Ferruccio Busoni and Franz Liszt very early on. The artist’s career began as a child prodigy, and in 1949 Ciccolini won the prestigious Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud international competition. As he became increasingly recognized in France, his love for French music grew as well and he has been one of its most fervent supporters ever since. It’s worth noting that Ciccolini was the first to record all the piano works of Erik Satie, works which subsequently became very fashionable worldwide. The pianist also immersed himself in the complete piano works of Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy. Throughout his career, Ciccolini collaborated with leading conductors including maestros such as Wilhelm Furtwengler, Dimitris Mitropoulos, Lorin Maazel, Erich Kleiber, Georges Pretre, Jean Martinon and Michel Plasson, among others. He also worked with artists such as opera diva Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, who became a close friend. Through a vast recording career which exceeds 100 albums, Ciccolini has played a pivotal role in the promotion of a number of lesser-known works by well-known composers, such as «Sonatas» by Schubert and Scarlatti. Though famous for his interpretations of works by Satie, Ciccolini’s Athens Concert Hall program is based on works by Frederic Chopin and Franz Liszt. Athens Concert Hall, Vas. Sofias & Kokkali, tel 210.728.2333.
