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Italian film composer Nicola Piovani vaulted to international renown via his Academy Award-winning score for the 1998 feature La Vita è Bella, better known to North American audiences as Roberto Benigni's Life Is Beautiful. Born May 26, 1946, in Rome, Piovani received his degree in piano from Milan's Verdi Conservatory, and later studied orchestration under Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis before making his cinematic debut with 1969's N.P. Il Segreto. Not only did Piovani earn his first widespread notice for his contributions to Marco Bellocchio's 1970 effort Nel Nome del Padre, but the project inaugurated an ongoing creative collaboration with the director that included the pictures Salto Nel Vuoto and Matti da Slegare. The composer was also a favorite of the brothers Taviani (La Notte di San Lorenzo), Mario Monicelli (Speriamo Che Sia Femmina), Nanni Moretti (Caro Diario), and the renowned Federico Fellini, a partnership that included the global hits Intervista and Ginger e Fred. Despite his growing renown, rumors circulated that Piovani was in fact little more than an alias for Italian film maestro Ennio Morricone, a misconception Piovani often chooses to exploit during his public appearances. Such gossip largely subsided when 1998's Holocaust fantasy La Vita è Bella earned the composer his first Oscar, although he lost out on a Grammy Award to composer Randy Newman. Piovani also won the Ciak d'Oro in 2001 for his work on Moretti's La Stanza del Figlio.
Wikipedia:
Nicola Piovani (b. 26 May 1946, Rome, Italy) is a light-classical musician, theater and film score composer, and winner of the 1998 Best Original Dramatic Score Oscar for the score of the Roberto Benigni film La Vita è bella, better known to English-speaking audiences as Life Is Beautiful.
After high school, Piovani enrolled at the Sapienza University of Rome, receiving his degree in piano from the Verdi Conservatory in Milan in 1967, and later studied orchestration under the Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis.
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.
In 2000, his Academy Award-winning score for 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 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 Cavalier (Knight) of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres on 21 May 2008 at the Cannes Film Festival.
To date, Piovani has over 130 film scores to his credit. 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.
Rumors have abounded for years that Nicola Piovani was a pseudonym of better-known composer Ennio Morricone, a fact Piovani uses to humorous effect when speaking in public.
