Italian film composer Manuel De Sica (son of legendary Academy Award winner actor-director Vittorio De Sica) died suddenly today for an heart attack at age 65. He's mostly remembered for his poignant score to Academy Award-winning film IL GIARDINO DEI FINZI CONTINI (The Garden of Finzi Contini), but he wrote many film scores and concert pieces as well. In the last years, he dedicated a lot of his efforts in the restoration and preservation of his father's films.
Here's the piece as appeared today in major Italian newspapers:
This is a shock to me. 65 is not that old. Condolences to his friends and family.
I remember getting a used RCA LP of THE GARDEN OF THE FINZI CONTINIS around 1986 in a used book store and liking De Sica's music very much.
Afterwards, I began to search for any other soundtrack which had music written by Mr. De Sica. A year later, I discovered an album entitled CAGLIOSTO available through mail order via R.T.S. and blind bought CAGLIOSTRO.
Glad I did because I've been loving CAGLIOSTRO ever since 1987!
Manuel De Sica was the first Italian composer who had gotten me interested in Italian soundtracks so Manuel has had the 'special' place in my heart.
