Roberto Nicolosi(1914-1989)
- Composer
- Actor
- Music Department
One of only two composers to start out as a dentist (the other being
English-born Wilfred Josephs) Roberto Nicolosi was born in Genoa in 1914. As
well as gaining a degree in medicine, he also won a diploma in
composition at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory of Music in Milan. After
several years in Milan as a practising dentist, Nicolosi began to win
popularity in the 1940s as a leading jazz musician in Italy, at first
playing piano, violin, trumpet, vibraphone or double-bass, then
conducting and arranging for radio and records. Moving to Rome, he
wrote musical criticism and worked in nightclubs and theatres.
His movie break-through came in 1954 with the score for Folco Quilici's documentary Sesto continente (1954). In 1957 Nicolosi turned his attention to the Italian epics. Although an unlikely choice to score historical movies, he turned out to be a master of the genre, with a fine symphonic style far removed from his jazz persona. In all he turned out fifteen Italian epic scores before the craze petered out in the mid-1960s. Having retired from films in 1971, Roberto Nicolosi passed away in 1989 in a Rome hospital.
His movie break-through came in 1954 with the score for Folco Quilici's documentary Sesto continente (1954). In 1957 Nicolosi turned his attention to the Italian epics. Although an unlikely choice to score historical movies, he turned out to be a master of the genre, with a fine symphonic style far removed from his jazz persona. In all he turned out fifteen Italian epic scores before the craze petered out in the mid-1960s. Having retired from films in 1971, Roberto Nicolosi passed away in 1989 in a Rome hospital.
