Born: September 14th, 1941, Castelnuovo d’Istria (Italy, modern-day Podgrad, Slovenia)
Nationality: Italian
In due course, the short impression below will be replaced with a more extensive career overview
BIOGRAPHY
Between 1958 and 1972, Nicola Samale studied at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome, graduating in flute (1963), conducting (1970), composition (1972), and instrumentation (1972). He won many conducting prizes and performed as a conductor with virtually all classical orchestras in Italy; moreover, Samale worked as a guest conductor on three continents. In the 1970s, Samale occasionally worked as a studio arranger with pop artists, including Renato Zero. He was a professor at the L’Aquila Conservatory, where he taught conducting (1978-93). Samale composed chamber, orchestral, and vocal music as well as five operas. He specialised in composing the finales of unfinished classical works of Bruckner, Liszt, Mahler, and Schubert.
EUROVISION SONG CONTEST
Nicola Samale took part in the Eurovision Song Contest on one occasion, in 1978, when he conducted the Italian entry, ‘Questo amore’, sung by Ricchi & Poveri in the festival held in Paris. Samale did not write the orchestration himself, leaving that job to Toto Torquati. Torquati was probably replaced as a conductor for the reason that he was blind, impeding him to work with a television orchestra. In the 1978 contest in Paris, ‘Questo amore’ finished twelfth in a field of twenty competing entries.
EUROVISION INVOLVEMENT YEAR BY YEAR
Country – Italy
Song title – "Questo amore"
Rendition – Ricchi & Poveri
Lyrics – Sergio Bardotti / Ezio Maria Picciotta
Composition – Dario Farina / Mauro Lusini
Studio arrangement – Toto Torquati
Live orchestration – Toto Torquati
Conductor – Nicola Samale
Score – 12th place (53 votes)
