Nascimbene, Mario

(1913-2002)

   Musical director and composer. One of the most respected and versatile of Italian film composers, Nascimbene is credited with the musical scores of over 300 films.

   After graduating from the Conservatory of Milan in 1935, Nascimbene indulged an early passion for cinema by scoring Ferdinando Maria Poggioli's L'Amore canta (Love Song, 1941). In the immediate postwar period he increased his involvement in the cinema, working with many directors on a wide variety of films ranging from socially committed neorealist works such as Giuseppe De Santis's Roma ore 11 (Rome 11:00, 1952) to peplums like Carmine Gallone's Cartagine in fiamme (Carthage in Flames, 1960). He scored a number of films for Valerio Zurlini, beginning with Estate Violenta (Violent Summer, 1959), for which he received the Nastro d'argento, and also collaborated with Franco Brusati on Il disordine (Disorder, 1962) and Carlo Lizzani on Il processo di Verona (The Verona Trial, 1963). In the late 1960s he initiated a long and fruitful partnership with Roberto Rossellini, scoring many of his films for television including Atti degli Apostoli (Acts of the Apostles, 1969), Socrate (Socrates, 1970), Blaise Pascal (1971), Agostino d'Ippona (Augustine of Hippo, 1972), and Cartesius (Descartes, 1974) as well as Rossellini's last work for the big screen, Il Messia (The Messiah, 1976).

   One of the few Italian directors to have worked extensively in Hollywood, Nascimbene also scored dozens of big-budget American productions, among them Joseph L. Mankiewicz's The Barefoot Contessa (1954) and The Quiet American (1958), Robert Rossen's Alexander the Great (1956), Charles Vidor's A Farewell to Arms (1957), and King Vidor's Solomon andSheba (1959). Having already received the Nastro d'argento three times, in 1992 he was given a special David di Donatello for his entire career. After his death in 2002 an annual prize was instituted in his name to recognize other fine film composers.