Giandomenico "Gianni" Ravera (born Lenin Ravera, 9 April 1920 - 15 May 1986), was an Italian singer,

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. Hist ...

and record producer.

Life and career

Born in Chiaravalle, the son of a socialist anarchist, Ravera was originally named

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

but was forced to change his first name after

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

came to power.Zuffanti, Fabio. "Ravera, Gianni". Gino Castaldo (edited by). ''Dizionario della canzone italiana''. Curcio Editore, 1990. He started his professional career as a singer in 1942, after having won together with

Nilla Pizzi Nilla Pizzi, stage name of Adionilla Pizzi (; 16 April 1919 – 12 March 2011), was an Italian singer and actress. Born in Sant'Agata Bolognese, she was particularly famous in Italy during the 1950s and 1960s. She won the first edition of the ...

EIAR Ente Italiano per le Audizioni Radiofoniche (EIAR, "Italian Body for Radio Broadcasting") was the public service broadcaster in Fascist Italy and the only entity permitted to broadcast by the government. History The company was established in 19 ...

contest for new musical artists. In the following years he was part of the major orchestras of the time, including those conducted by

Cinico Angelini Angelo Cinico, best known as Cinico Angelini (12 November 1901 – 7 July 1983), was an Italian conductor, arranger and violinist. Life and career After his studies at the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Turin, Angelini started his career as ...

Pippo Barzizza Giuseppe "Pippo" Barzizza (; 15 May 1902 – 4 April 1994) was an Italian composer, arranger, conductor and music director. Giuseppe Barzizza, called Pippo, was born in Genova on 15 May 1902, and died in Sanremo on 4 April 1994. He became famou ...

Carlo Savina Carlo Savina (2 August 1919 - 23 June 2002) was an Italian composer and conductor who composed, arranged, and conducted music for films, and is especially remembered for being the music director of films such as ''The Godfather'' (1972), '' Amar ...

and

Armando Trovajoli Armando Trovajoli (also Trovaioli, 2 September 1917 – 28 February 2013) was an Italian film composer and pianist with over 300 credits as composer and/or conductor, many of them jazz scores for exploitation films of the Commedia all'italiana ...

, and took part in three editions of the

Sanremo Music Festival The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longest-running annual ...

. Ravera retired from singing in the late 1950s to become an impresario, organizing among others eighteen editions of the

, as well as several editions of

Un disco per l'estate Un disco per l'estate (translation "A Record for the Summer") was an Italian Summer festival held from 1964 to 2003. It was organized and sponsored by the Italian record industry association, AFI, and by RAI, except for the editions between 1995 ...

and

Castrocaro Music Festival The Castrocaro Music Festival, also known as Concorso per Voci Nuove, is an Italian musical contest which takes place every year in the town of Castrocaro Terme e Terra del Sole, near Forlì, from 1957. The competition is exclusively reserved for ne ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ravera, Gianni 1920 births 1986 deaths People from the Province of Ancona Italian male singers