Born: December 21st, 1930, Paradiso, Lugano (Switzerland)
Died: May 18th, 1993, Lugano (Switzerland)
Nationality: Swiss
In due course, the short impression below will be replaced with a more extensive career overview
BIOGRAPHY
As a youth, Mario Robbiani taught himself to play the accordion and later studied the piano and harmony, mostly by himself as well. From the early 1950s onwards, he worked as an arranger for the Orchestra Radiosa of Radio Monte Ceneri, which, at that time, was conducted by Fernando Paggi. Robbiani founded the Quintetto Vocale Radiosa, the vocal group which performed with the orchestra and which included, among others, Anita Traversi. In 1967, he took over Paggi’s baton and led the broadcaster’s orchestra until it was finally disbanded in 1985.
EUROVISION SONG CONTEST
Mario Robbiani’s involvement in the Eurovision Song Contest spans almost thirty years. For the very first Eurovision Song Contest, held in Lugano in 1956, he arranged both Swiss entries, amongst which Lys Assia’s winning ‘Refrain’. Four years later, he composed ‘Cielo e terra’ for his protégé Anita Traversi, who represented Switzerland in the 1960 contest in London. Between 1965 and 1984, he appeared in the contest as a conductor on four occasions; in 1965 for Yovanna and ‘Non, à jamais sans toi’, in 1968 for Gianni Mascolo and ‘Guardando il sole’, in 1976 for Peter, Sue & Marc and their ‘Djambo, djambo’, and finally in 1984 for Rainy Day and ‘Welche Farbe hat der Sonnenschein’.
EUROVISION INVOLVEMENT YEAR BY YEAR
1956 Lugano (1)
Country – Switzerland (A)
Song title – “Das alte Karussel”
Rendition – Lys Assia
Lyrics – Georg Betz-Stahl
Composition – Georg Betz-Stahl
Studio arrangement – Mario Robbiani
(Orchestra Radiosa conducted by Fernando Paggi)
Live orchestration – Mario Robbiani
Conductor – Fernando Paggi (MD)
Score – unknown
1956 Lugano (2)
Country – Switzerland (B)
Song title – “Refrain”
Rendition – Lys Assia
Lyrics – Emile Gardaz
Composition – Géo Voumard
Studio arrangement – Mario Robbiani
(Orchestra Radiosa conducted by Fernando Paggi)
Live orchestration – Mario Robbiani
Conductor – Fernando Paggi (MD)
Score – 1st place
Country – Switzerland
Song title – “Cielo e terra”
Rendition – Anita Traversi
Lyrics – Alberto Bottazzi
Composition – Mario Robbiani
Studio arrangement – Giulio Libano
(studio orchestra conducted by Giulio Libano)
Live orchestration – Mario Robbiani
Conductor – Cédric Dumont
Score – 8th place (5 votes)
Country – Switzerland
Song title – “Non – à jamais sans toi”
Rendition – Yovanna
Lyrics – Jean Charles
Composition – Bob Calfati
Studio arrangement – unknown
Live orchestration – Mario Robbiani
Conductor – Mario Robbiani
Score – 8th place (8 votes)
Country – Switzerland
Song title – “Guardando il sole”
Rendition – Gianni Mascolo
Lyrics – Sanzio Chiesa
Composition – Aldo D'Addario
Studio arrangement – Giampiero Reverberi
Live orchestration – Giampiero Reverberi / Mario Robbiani
Conductor – Mario Robbiani
Score – 13th place (2 votes)
Country – Switzerland
Song title – “Djambo, Djambo”
Rendition – Peter, Sue & Marc
(Peter Reber / Susan Schell / Marc Dietrich)
Lyrics – Peter Reber
Composition – Peter Reber
Studio arrangement – Peter Reber / Rolf Zuckowski
Live orchestration – Peter Reber / Rolf Zuckowski
Conductor – Mario Robbiani
Score – 4th place (91 votes)
Country – Switzerland
Song title – “Welche Farbe hat der Sonnenschein”
Rendition – Rainy Day
(Gerry Braukmann / Frank Miller / Rose Rengel)
Lyrics – Günter Loose
Composition – Günter Loose
Studio arrangement – Gerry Braukmann
Live orchestration – Gerry Braukmann
Conductor – Mario Robbiani
Score – 16th place (30 votes)
Fun fact: every entry conducted by Mario Robbiani was performed in a different language. French was used in 1965, Italian in 1968, English in 1976 and German in 1984.
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