Italian film composer Nicola Piovani vaulted to international renown via his Academy Award-winning score for the 1998 feature La Vita è Bella, better known to North American audiences as Roberto Benigni's Life Is Beautiful. Born May 26, 1946, in Rome, Piovani received his degree in piano from Milan's Verdi Conservatory, and later studied orchestration under Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis before making his cinematic debut with 1969's N.P. Il Segreto. Not only did Piovani earn his first widespread notice for his contributions to Marco Bellocchio's 1970 effort Nel Nome del Padre...