Mozart, Clementi Aldo Ciccolini

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 1791): Fantasy No. 4 in C Minor, K. 475:
• 1 Mozart: Fantasy No. 4 in C Minor, K. 475 12:14
• Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Minor, K. 457:
• 2 Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Minor, K. 457: I. Molto allegro 06:40
• 3 Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Minor, K. 457: II. Adagio 07:18
• 4 Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Minor, K. 457: III. Allegro assai 05:45
• Muzio Clementi (1752 - 1832): Piano Sonata in G Minor, Op. 34 No. 2:
• 5 Clementi: Piano Sonata in G Minor, Op. 34 No. 2: I. Largo e sostenuto. Allegro con fuoco 08:56
• 6 Clementi: Piano Sonata in G Minor, Op. 34 No. 2: II. Un poco adagio 06:39
• 7 Clementi: Piano Sonata in G Minor, Op. 34 No. 2: III. Molto allegro 06:31
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 12 in F Major, K. 332:
• 8 Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 12 in F Major, K. 332: I. Allegro 07:16
• 9 Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 12 in F Major, K. 332: II. Adagio 04:39
• 10 Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 12 in F Major, K. 332: III. Allegro assai 04:59
• Total Runtime 01:10:57

Info for Mozart, Clementi

Though Ciccolini has always held his Sonata Op.34 No. 2 close to his heart, he had never recorded it before. He has now – and how sumptuously! – grouping it with works by Mozart.

After a first and highly-praised recording devoted to Mozart (La Dolce Volta LDV 03), he has now tackled his Sonata KV 332and the celebrated diptych comprising Fantasy in C Minor KV 475 and Sonata in C Minor KV 457. Through their expressive depths and their pre-romantic accents, these Mozart works fit nicely with Clementi’s amazing Sonata Op.34 No.2.

“One shouldn’t be impatient in life, certain things demand a gestation period. I’m not impatient to play something, I need the time to find myself”, says Aldo Ciccolini.

This new recording is testimony to the art of a living legend. Now 87 years of age, the master’s source of wonder and appetite for music remain intact!

Aldo Ciccolini, piano

Aldo Ciccolini
The distinguished Italian-born French pianist and pedagogue, Aldo Ciccolini, began piano lessons at a very early age. At 9, he was granted entrance to the Naples Conservatory, where he studied piano with Paolo Danza, taking 1st prize in 1940. He also took 1st prize in composition there in 1943.

In 1941 Aldo Ciccolini made his debut as soloist in Frédéric Chopin’s F minor Concerto at the Theater San Carlo in Naples. In 1947 he became Professor of piano at the Naples Conservatory. In 1949, he was co-winner of the Grand Prize in the Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud competition in Paris. In November 1950, he made his USA debut as soloist in Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and subsequently pursued a notable international career. He became a French citizen in 1969 and was professor at the Conservatoire de Paris from 1971 to 1988. On December 9, 1999 he celebrated a career in France spanning 50 years with a recital at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris.

Aldo Ciccolini maintained a comprehensive repertoire, which extended from J.S. Bach to contemporary composers. His virtuoso technique was enhanced by a particularly refined lyricism. He was a celebrated interpreter and advocate of the piano music of the French composers Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy and Erik Satie as well as that of less prominent composers such as Déodat de Séverac, Jules Massenet, Charles-Valentin Alkan, and Alexis de Castillon. He was also known for his playing of the music of Franz Liszt.

This album contains no booklet.