Italian pianist. He obtained his diploma at the Conservatory in Rome at the age of 14 and later, from 1958 to 1962, attended the advanced courses of Alfred Cortot. Ciani's career began when he won second prize at the Liszt-Bartók Competition in Budapest in 1961. His repertoire was broad and diverse for a pianist of his age. It encompassed the complete sonatas of Beethoven, works by Weber (he was the first to record the complete sonatas, in 1967), Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Debussy and Bartók. His recordings for Deutsche Grammophon of the complete Debussy Préludes (1972), Schumann's Novellettes (1968) and Weber's second and third piano sonatas (1970) are particularly renowned and belong to the pianistic heritage. He collaborated with such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, Thomas Schippers, John Barbirolli, Gianandrea Gavazzeni and Carlo Maria Giulini. Ciani was killed in a road accident in Rome at the age of 32.
