Roberto De Simone, Neapolitan music legend, dies at 91

Roberto De Simone, the influential musician, ethnomusicologist, and playwright who revived Neapolitan folk traditions, died on Sunday, April 6, 2025, at his home in Naples at age 91. Born in Naples in 1933, he co-founded the Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare with Eugenio Bennato in 1967, transforming the post-war folk song "Tammurriata nera" into a chart hit in 1974. His masterpiece "La gatta Cenerentola" debuted on July 7, 1976, at the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, revolutionizing Italian musical theater. De Simone served as artistic director of the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, director of the Conservatorio San Pietro a Majella, and was an academician of Santa Cecilia. He directed operas at La Scala, called by Riccardo Muti for the 1986/87 season opening of Nabucco. In 2002, he reopened the Trianon Viviani theater with a reimagining of Raffaele Viviani's "Eden teatro." His final work, "Trianon opera," premiered in 2021. Somma Vesuviana, where his family sheltered during WWII bombings, deeply influenced his work; mayor Salvatore Di Sarno announced a street will be named after him.