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Armando Trovajoli, 1917-2013
Composer, pianist and conductor Armando Trovajoli died in Rome on February 28, 2013, at the age of 95.
One of the most prolific and versatile musicians of post-war Italian cinema, Trovajoli composed or conducted more than 300 film scores during a career spanning six decades, working with directors including Vittorio De Sica, Dino Risi, Mario Monicelli and, most extensively, Ettore Scola. His sophisticated mixture of jazz, orchestral writing, popular song and unmistakably Italian melody made him one of the defining musical voices of the commedia all’italiana.
Trovajoli was born in Rome on September 2, 1917, and began studying piano as a child. After military service during World War II he graduated from the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in 1948 and studied composition with fellow film composer Angelo Francesco Lavagnino. Jazz remained a lifelong passion: Trovajoli became one of Italy’s leading jazz pianists and performed alongside musicians including Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Stéphane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt.
His film career began when he collaborated with Goffredo Petrassi on Giuseppe De Santis’s neorealist classic Bitter Rice (1949). Alberto Lattuada’s Anna (1951) brought an early popular success through the Latin-flavored song “El Negro Zumbón,” performed onscreen by Silvana Mangano and subsequently an international hit. Read more…
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