After two years of studying, he joined the theater orchestra, where he played for three months - for ten shillings, half of which his grandfather took.

As a result, when Piatti fell ill during an engagement, he was forced to sell his cello to cover the medical costs.

[4] In 1882, he performed Beethoven's Trio in G major at St. James's Hall, London, with Madame Wilma Neruda and Ludwig Straus and later Brahms' Quintet in F minor, where he was joined by Louis Ries and Charles Hallé[5] In 1894 the fiftieth anniversary of his first appearance in London was celebrated by a reception given in honour of him and his lifelong friend Joachim.

He retired from public life, owing to a severe illness, in 1897, and until his death at Bergamo on the 19th of July 1901 divided his time between his native town and Cadenabbia.

A marble bust of Piatti, attributed to "Giacomo Manzoni of Bergamo", is in the collection of the Royal Academy of Music, to whom it was gifted by his daughter in 1909.