Nicola Piovani (born 26 May 1946) is an Italian classical musician, theater and film score composer. In 1998, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score for Roberto Benigni's film Life Is Beautiful (1997).
Nicola Piovani | |
|---|---|
 Piovani in 2010 | |
| Born | 26 May 1946 |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1971–present |
Biography
editAfter high school, Piovani enrolled at the Sapienza University of Rome, receiving his degree in piano from the Verdi Conservatory in Milan in 1967,[1] and later studied orchestration under the Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis.[2]
In 1971 and 1973 collaborated for the music of two albums of the songwriter Fabrizio De André: Storia di un impiegato and Non al denaro non all'amore né al cielo. In 2008, after De André departure, Piovani wrote the music for the film Amore che vieni, amore che vai, inspired by a novel of De André himself, Un destino ridicolo.[3]
Among his more popular works is the score for the Federico Fellini film Intervista, his second of three collaborations with the famous director, the others being Ginger e Fred (Ginger and Fred in English) and La voce della luna (The Voice of the Moon). Years later, he composed a ballet titled Balletto Fellini.[4]
In 2000, his Academy Award-winning score for Life Is Beautiful (La Vita è bella) was further nominated for a Grammy Award in the "Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media" category, losing to Randy Newman. In 2005, he was a member of the jury at the 27th Moscow International Film Festival.[5] In light of his recent work with French directors, notably Danièle Thompson, Philippe Lioret, and Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, the French Minister of Culture gave him the title of Chevalier (Knight) of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres on 21 May 2008 at the Cannes Film Festival.[6]
To date, Piovani has over 130 film scores to his credit, including films such as Slap the Monster on Page One (1972), The Perfume of the Lady in Black (1974), Flavia the Heretic (1974), Le Orme (1975), A Leap in the Dark (1980) The Night of the Shooting Stars (1982), and Kaos (1984). However, he is reported to believe that "Too many film scores make a composer a hack, but in the theatre music is above all craftsmanship". Accordingly, he continues to work in musical theatre, and also composes concert and chamber music.[7]
Piovani also composed the first opera Amorosa presenza on a libretto by Aisha Cerami and Nicola Piovani, based on the novel by Vincenzo Cerami and is performed at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste in January 2022.[8]
In 2023, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Soundtrack Academy.[9]
In 2024, Piovani composed the score for Loris Lai's debut feature film, How Kids Roll.[10]
References
edit- ^ Radio, N. T. S. "Nicola Piovani | Discover music on NTS". NTS Radio. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
- ^ "Nicola Piovani". World Soundtrack Awards. Retrieved 2024-06-19.
- ^ "Amore che vieni, amore che vai - 2008 - film usciti 2000 - 2023 - film & docu". Filmitalia (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-06-17.
- ^ "Fellini, la dolce vita di Federico – Balletto di Siena" (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-06-17.
- ^ "27th Moscow International Film Festival (2005)". MIFF. Archived from the original on 2013-04-03. Retrieved 2013-04-09.
- ^ "NICOLA PIOVANI – Only Stage". Retrieved 2024-06-17.
- ^ "Cinema Amore Mio". South China Morning Post. 2006-06-20. Retrieved 2024-06-17.
- ^ "Amorosa presenza". Teatro Verdi Trieste (in Italian). Retrieved 2024-06-19.
- ^ "Italian composer Nicola Piovani to receive Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2023 World Soundtrack Awards". World Soundtrack Awards. Retrieved 2024-06-17.
- ^ "I bambini di Gaza: ecco il trailer del film del regista italo-americano Loris Lai" [The children of Gaza: here is the trailer of the film by Italian-American director Loris Lai]. The Hollywood Reporter Roma (in Italian). 9 March 2024. Archived from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
External links
edit
- Official Nicola Piovani website
- Nicola Piovani at IMDb
- Nicola Piovani at AllMusic
- Nicola Piovani discography at Discogs
- Nicola Piovani discography at MusicBrainz
- Biography of Nicola Piovani
