Mario Panzeri (11 October 1911 – 19 May 1991) was an Italian lyricist and composer. He is well known for his composed songs that include "" "", "", and "", which won the first edition of the

Sanremo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival ( ), officially the Italian Song Festival (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria, organized and broadcast by (RAI). It is the longest-running ...

in 1951. Panzeri was the composer of

Sanremo Music Festival 1964 The Sanremo Music Festival 1964 (), officially the 14th Italian Song Festival (), was the 14th annual Sanremo Music Festival, held at the Sanremo Casino in Sanremo between 30 January and 1 February 1964, and broadcast by (RAI). The show was pre ...

and

Eurovision Song Contest 1964 The Eurovision Song Contest 1964 was the 9th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the country's victory at the with the song "" by Grethe Ingmann, Grethe and Jørgen Ingmann. Organised by the E ...

winning song "".

Life and career

Born in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Panzeri started his career as a revue actor and singer. He began composing songs in the second half of the 1930s, having large success with two songs, "" and "", which also raised some controversies as they were accused of mocking some important Fascist personalities (

Costanzo Ciano Costanzo Ciano, 1st Count of Cortellazzo (; 30 August 1876 – 26 June 1939) was an Italian naval officer and politician. He was the father of Galeazzo Ciano. Biography Early life Born at Livorno, he was the son of Raimondo Ciano and his wife, ...

and

Achille Starace Achille Starace (; 18 August 1889 – 29 April 1945) was a prominent leader of Fascist Italy before and during World War II. Early life and career Starace was born in Sannicola, province of Lecce, in southern Apulia. His father was a wine and oi ...

, respectively). In 1951 a song he composed, "", won the first edition of the

. In 1959 his song "" was presented at the first edition of the and later became a hit thanks to the version by

Johnny Dorelli Giorgio Guidi (born 20 February 1937), known professionally as Johnny Dorelli, is an Italian actor, singer and television host. Early life Giorgio Guidi was born in Meda, Lombardy, Italy. In 1946, he moved with his family to New York City, ...

.Enzo Giannelli. "Panzeri, Mario". Gino Castaldo (ed. by). ''Dizionario della canzone italiana''. Curcio Editore, 1990. In the 1960s Panzeri started a successful collaboration with

Daniele Pace Daniele Pace (20 April 1935 – 24 October 1985) was an Italian composer, lyricist and singer-songwriter. Life and career Born in Milan, Pace started his career as lead vocalist of the group I Marcellini. After a brief solo career as a singer ...

and his songs contributed to launch the careers of notable singers such as

Gigliola Cinquetti Gigliola Cinquetti (; born Giliola Cinquetti on 20 December 1947) is an Italian singer, songwriter and television presenter. Life and career Gigliola Cinquetti was born into a wealthy family in Verona, Italy. At the age of 16, she debuted at ...

, for whom he composed "", which would go on to win the

and the

, as well as "", "" and other songs; Caterina Caselli, for whom he wrote the hit ""; and Orietta Berti, for whom he composed most of her 1960s–1970s repertoire.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Panzeri, Mario 1911 births 1991 deaths Composers from Milan Italian male songwriters Italian songwriters Italian lyricists 20th-century Italian male musicians Eurovision Song Contest-winning songwriters