Dino Ciani (16 June 1941 – 28 March 1974) was an Italian pianist.
Ciani was born in Fiume (now Rijeka in Croatia) and studied piano with Martha Del Vecchio in Genoa. 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, whom he greatly revered, in Paris, Lausanne and Siena. Cortot described Ciani in most enthusiastic terms: "miraculously gifted ... one of the most remarkable examples of the rarest talents one could hope to find".
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.[1]
Debussy: Preludes (Books I & II). Deutsche Grammophon (2 CDs; additional works by Debussy played by Tamás Vásáry)
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 3. Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI cond. Vittorio Gui. Doremi (CD)
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 4. Orchestra della Scala cond. Claudio Abbado. Myto (CD)
Mozart: Piano Concertos. Nos. 20 and 24 cond. Gianandrea Gavazzeni. Dynamic (CD)
Rossini: Album de Chaumière, Album de Château. Fonit Cetra (CD)
The Genius of Dino Ciani; Debussy (Préludes), Schumann (Novelettes), von Weber (Piano sonata's 2 and 3), Bartók (Out of Doors, volume 2); Original recordings made by Deutsche Grammophon, Brilliant Classics, 2010, 3CD)