Ciani was Istrian by birth. He was born in Fiume (now Rijeka, in Yugoslavia) on the 16th June 1941, in the middle of the Second World War. He moved at an early age with his family to Geneva, where he completed a period of piano study under the guidance of Martha Del Vechhio. Subsequently he went to Rome and there he took his diploma at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia. After having taken part in various master classes given by Cortot between 1958 and 1962 (Paris, Lausanne, Siena) Ciani finally embarked on his actual career. His launching as a concert pianist was helped by his victory in the Vienna Beethoven Competition in May 1961 and by coming second in the Budapest Liszt-Bartok Competition in October of that year