LONG SHORT

Nicola Piovani was born on 26 May 1946 in Rome. He obtained a piano degree in 1967 and then learned the art and technique of composition under the guidance of the Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis. The soundtrack of N. P. il segreto by Silvano Agosti (1969) and Nel nome del padre (In the name of the father) by Marco Bellocchio (1970) marked the beginning of his career in cinema.

From there, in addition to other films with Bellocchio -among which Marcia trionfale, Salto nel vuoto (Leap into the void) and Matti da slegare (Fit to be untied)- he has worked in collaboration with a number of other Italian directors as Mario Monicelli: Speriamo che sia femmina (Let¹s hope it¹s a girl) and Il male oscuro; Nanni Moretti: La messa è finita, Palombella rossa and Caro diario (Dear diary); Giuseppe Tornatore: Il camorrista; Giuseppe Bertolucci: Segreti segreti; Daniele Luchetti: Domani accadrà, Gianfranco Mingozzi: Flavia la monaca musulmana (The nun); Roberto Benigni: La vita è bella (Life is beautiful).

He has also worked with Taviani brothers: La notte di san Lorenzo (The night of shooting stars), Kaos, Good morning Babylon, Il sole anche di notte (Night sun), Fiorile, as well as Federico Fellini: Ginger e Fred, Intervista and La voce della luna (Voice of the moon).

Together with cinema, he has worked in television and theatre: for the first, Mingozzi¹s serial Un treno per Istanbul, followed by Il generale by Luigi Magni and Lenin the train by Damiano Damiani; for the latter, the score of plays by Majakovskij, Cecov, Erdman, Beckett, Shakespeare, Molière, Pasolini, De Filippo directed by the best Italian directors.

Nicola Piovani¹s experience in cinema however is not limited to Italy. To his credits are numerous films with European directors such as Ben Von Verbong, Bernard Favre, Pal Gabor, Dusan Makavejes, Michel Sibra, Jean Jacques Andrien, Maroun Bagdadi, Bigas Luna and John Irvin.

With lyrics by Vincenzo Cerami he wrote the score of two "racconti musicali": La cantata del Fiore (Cantata of Flower) in 1988 and La cantata del Buffo (Cantata of the Fool) in 1990, for two singers, two actors and an orchestra of 13 soloists (his orchestra Aracoeli). In 1992 with Vincenzo Cerami wrote for the same staff the score for another "racconto musicale": Il signor Novecento (Mr. Novecento). In 1993, still with Cerami, wrote Canti di scena, a concert for music and words, coming from the music Nicola Piovani wrote for the movie soundtracks and theatre. In 1989 he wrote the score for the musical comedy I Sette re di Roma (The Seven Kings of Rome). He composed the score for the ballet Fellini (choreographer Micha Van Hoecke), commissioned by Teatro dell¹Opera di Roma, performed the first time in Rome in 1995. He has also written chamber music: the octet in four parts Quattro canti senza parole (Four chants without words), the trio Il demone meschino and the piece for ten instruments Il volo di mare. In 1987 was a member for the Jury at Cannes Film Festival and in 1996 at Gent Film Festival.

In November 1998, in Orvieto the first performance of a Stabat Mater was hold , with lyrics by Vincenzo Cerami La Pietà (Mother of sorrows) for an actor, a soul voice and a lyric voice. The Good Friday of 1999, La Pietà Was performed in Bethlem in ST Francis Millennium Hall, as a message of peace, with an audience of more than 3.000 people. For ³Life is beautiful² by Roberto Benigni In 1999 he got the Oscar and, in year 2000, the nomination for Grammy Award. In 2000 he presented the Concerto Fotogramma (Frame Concert), an «open-stage reflection about music tracks that were composed to live together with cinema or theatre scenes».

He is given the Ciak d'Oro 2001 award, for the sound track of the movie Son's room. In July 2001 he holds a one-week seminary about sound track composition, with the title Composing by images.