Enrico Simonetti (29 January 1924 – 28 May 1978) was an Italian pianist, composer, conductor, and television and radio presenter.

Life and career

Born in

Alassio Alassio (Ligurian: Arasce or Arasci) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Savona situated in the western coast of Liguria, Northern Italy, approximately from the French border. Alassio is known for its natural and scenic views ...

, a

Province of Savona The province of Savona (; Ligurian language, Ligurian: ''provinsa de Sann-a'') is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Liguria region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Savona, which has a population of 61,219 inhabitants. The province has a ...

, Simonetti studied piano at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

.Aldo Grasso, Massimo Scaglioni. ''Enciclopedia della Televisione''. Garzanti, 1996–2003. . A lover of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, in the early 1950s he founded a jazz band with

Piero Piccioni Piero Piccioni (; December 6, 1921 – July 23, 2004) was an Italian film score composer. A pianist, organist, conductor, and composer, he was also the prolific author of more than 300 film soundtracks. He played for the first time on radio in ...

and

Bruno Martino Bruno Martino (11 November 1925 – 12 June 2000) was an Italian composer, singer, and pianist. He is best remembered for his songs '' Dracula Cha Cha Cha'' (1959) and ''Estate'' (1960). Career Martino learned to play the piano at the age of fou ...

, with whom he performed in the most important nightclubs of the time. In 1953 he moved, with his family, to Brazil, where he found immediate success as musician, composer and entertainer, hosting a long running television program, ''Simonetti Show'', which lasted for 147 episodes; thanks to his popularity he was made an honorary citizen of Brazil and was introduced into the "Candido Randon da Silva" order. In 1964 he came back to Italy, where he joined

RAI (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

television, making his debut in the show ''Chitarra, amore mio''. He was active as a television and radio host (often paired with

Isabella Biagini Isabella Biagini, born Concetta Biagini, (8 December 1940 – 14 April 2018) was an Italian actress and showgirl. Life and career Biagini was born in Rome on 8 December 1940. She debuted in childhood as a radio actress and advertising model. ...

), as a film composer, and even an occasional actor. Simonetti died at age 54 from complications following a major surgical operation to remove a tumor in his throat. His film scores include '' Macumba Love'' (1960), '' Special Killers'' (1973), '' Il magnate'' (1973) and ''

Per amore di Cesarina ''Per amore di Cesarina'' (''For Love of Cesarina'') is a 1976 Italian comedy film directed by Vittorio Sindoni. Cast *Walter Chiari: Davide Camporesi * Gino Bramieri: Vindice Forattini *Cinzia Monreale: Cesarina *Valeria Moriconi: Elvira Camp ...

'' (1976). He was the father of composer and musician

Claudio Simonetti Claudio Simonetti (born 19 February 1952) is an Italian musician and film composer. The keyboardist of the progressive rock band Goblin, Simonetti has specialized in the scores for Italian and American horror films since the 1970s. A long-tim ...

Selected filmography

* '' Lights Out'' (1953) * '' A Flea on the Scales'' (1953) * ''

Leonora of the Seven Seas ''Leonora of the Seven Seas'' (Portuguese:''Leonora dos sete mares'') is a 1955 Brazilian mystery film A mystery film is a film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private invest ...

'' (1955) * '' Macumba Love'' (1960) *''

I Kiss the Hand ''I Kiss the Hand'' (, also known as ''Family Killer'') is a 1973 Italian crime film directed by Vittorio Schiraldi and starring Arthur Kennedy, John Saxon and Agostina Belli. It is based on a novel by the same Vittorio Schiraldi, a writer and jo ...

'' (1973) *'' Special Killers'' (1973) *'' Il magnate'' (1973) *'' Lover Boy'' (1975) *''

'' (1976) *'' Scandalo in famiglia'' (1976)

References

External links

* *
Enrico Simonetti
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

1924 births 1978 deaths Italian film score composers Italian male film score composers People from the Province of Savona Italian male conductors (music) Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia alumni Italian television personalities Italian radio presenters 20th-century Italian conductors (music) 20th-century Italian pianists 20th-century Italian composers 20th-century male composers Italian male pianists 20th-century Italian male musicians {{conductor-stub