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.

Ciani also played with the young Riccardo Muti Beethoven's Choral Fantasy at La Scala and the Second Piano Concerto by Bartók at Milan RAI.

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] He collaborated with such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, Thomas Schippers, John Barbirolli, Gianandrea Gavazzeni and Carlo Maria Giulini.

Distinguished members of the jury have included Nikita Magaloff, Martha Argerich, Maurizio Pollini, Lazar Berman, Rudolf Firkušný and Aldo Ciccolini.