Aldo Ciccolini (1925-2015) was an Italian-born French pianist, celebrated for his clarity, elegance and wide repertory. Born in Naples, he won the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud competition and settled in France.

Ciccolini became especially associated with French piano music, including Satie, Debussy, Ravel and Saint-Saëns, while also recording Liszt and much Italian repertory. In the Pristine catalogue he appears in Satie and Franck.

His playing favoured transparency, poise and finely weighted sonority. He could make apparently simple music sound precise, strange and quietly inevitable.

Ciccolini’s legacy is particularly important in the revival and serious presentation of Satie’s piano music. He gave eccentric music a perfectly balanced chair to sit on.