NICOLETTA STRAMBELLI as ...
PATTY PRAVO

Nicoletta Strambelli was born in Venice and in a perfectly natural manner she acquired the same charm and magic as this city of water.
Her first steps were taken with her paternal grandparents amidst the discipline of the marines, unbounded freedom and a myriad of family friends, some of whom became the unknowing personalities who enriched and formed Nicoletta's personality. This is the case of actor, Cesco Baseggio, soprano Toti Dal Monte, and Cardinal Roncalli (who later became Pope John XXIII). This was the first audience she performed in front of, taking her first bows. Even at a tender age she was already very lively and demonstrated a strong sense of commitment, taking an interest in a great variety of activities. She attended a public school (after refusing to go to a private boarding school which she escaped from on three occasions) where she had an excellent rapport with the teacher who made the pupils sing "The Marseillaise" in class. At the same time she also studied the piano with "desperate" noblewoman Mazzin Crovato, dance with Madame Turrito of the Fenice of Venice, as well as taking lessons in theory and harmony with Maestro Amendola.
As an extracurricular activity she took lessons from Maestro Ettore Gracis in orchestra conducting which she loved so much that her desire was to become a conductor when she "grew up". At the age of ten she was enrolled at the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory, where after passing the entry exam she went straight into the fourth course.
She could often be found in Peggy Guggenheim's house doing her homework, while her free time was spent with artists of the Biennale. Whenever she played "hooky" (something she learned from her grandmother) she would go for walks and eat ice-cream with a wise old man who turned out to be Ezra Pound. The death of her grandfather affected her deeply and in the eighth year of Conservatory she decided to leave Venice and go to study English in England.
In the streets of Piccadilly Circus, London she heard talk about a trendy nightclub in Rome called Piper, and before long, after travelling back to Italy in an old car lent to her by friends, she found herself dancing there in an Emilio Pucci dress stolen from her mother. Straight away she made an impression on the owner of the club, Alberigo Crocetta. A friend from Padua introduced Nicoletta to him and he immediately asked: "Do you know how to sing as well as you dance?" "Of course" was her reply! The same night she was invited to sing at the Piper Gianni Boncompagni, Renzo Arbore and Luigi Tenco, were also there and within two months she had become Patty Pravo "the Piper girl".
Can you guess why she chose that name? At the Conservatory she studied Dantism with Professor Chiarini and the only part she liked was the Inferno, hence the name Pravo (anime prave). Patty instead was a very popular name at that time… and it sounded just right together with Pravo.

Her first record was " Ragazzo triste"(Sad boy), liked by both the critics and the public and the first song of light music aired by Radio Vatican, while the RAI censored the phrase"Il mondo che ci apparterrà" (We'll own the world).
Her rise to fame came with "Qui e là" (Here and there) and "Se perdo te" (If I lose you)", a song in which she showed the public a completely different face, and proved her talent as a sophisticated performer with a splendid voice. .. .However, despite all this Nicoletta Strambelli still failed to consider herself a singer...
The name Patty Pravo was on everyone's lips and her records sold all over the world, with at least three of her singles remaining on the world charts for a long period. "La Bambola" (The Doll) (a song cut without much enthusiasm on her behalf) immediately sold 9 million copies and was the top of the pops in Italy, Spain, Japan, France, Germany and South America. To date this record has sold over 30 million copies.
Thus began the Patty Pravo mania, young people followed her, imitating her look and making her their idol. During the years when the stars of light music took part in shows in order to launch their records, she introduced her songs directly to the public, already demonstrating her knack of making precise decisions, out of the norm, while still in tune with her need to express herself in a certain manner.
She stunned everyone by going on tours where she sang and danced, staging alternative shows in which she was one of the first to experiment in the most up-to-date technologies, gathering together artists from diverse musical backgrounds and proving to be ahead of the times in the field of multimedia techniques
This very beautiful and very hip girl soon turned into a classy singer, the refined pieces of the Beatles, Jacques Brel, Leo Ferré, Vinicius De Moraes and Neil Diamond, all become musical pearls when performed by Patty Pravo. On observing her extremely rich video repertory, in some of the songs she performed in her early twenties she seems even "more mature" than she is now; a prime example is her "La canzone degli amanti " (The Lovers' Song) a piece she herself had "never actually lived", due to her young age, but which she performs with great aplomb.
In the eighties, after the triumph of such songs as " Pazza idea " (Crazy idea) and "Pensiero stupendo" (Great idea), examples of very advanced rock for Italy, Nicoletta Strambelli retired from the Italian "disposable" musical culture and a television language that didn't appeal to her, and moved to the States while waiting for a change in scene. Every time she made a come back she left an indelible mark, provoking with her 'scandalous' appearance, enchanting with her brilliant performance, always drawing an increasing number of fans in her wake, and even the critics loved her.
In 1994 she conquered China, performing in a TV show before one billion three hundred thousand people. Here she put her musical experience at the disposition of famous groups, giving them the possibility of trying out rock. She cut "Ideogrammi" (Ideograms) a sophisticated album acclaimed by the critics who showered her with praise. She is still loved and on demand in China today.

Back in Italy again in 1996, Patty made a warm-up tour of the main Italian night clubs, including the Piper in Rome. A sell-out show where she received a standing ovation every night, the public loved her and encouraged her to participate at the Festival of Sanremo with "...E dimmi che non vuoi morire" (...And tell me you don't want to die). A huge success with public and critics alike, the album sold 350 thousand copies and Patty went on tours singing all her most famous songs (including the ones she would have preferred not to sing), and performing 120 concerts in one year alone.
From that moment on everything else is present tense. Without a break she produces albums with romantic and musically innovative songs, with tours in every part of Italy with an increasingly more heterogeneous public consisting of thousands of young people. Up until the last two summer tours ("Rehearsal" in 2002 and the "Stupiscimi tour" in 2003) taken into the Italian piazzas almost without any rehearsals, with a fabulous Patty Pravo in great form, beautiful and brilliant, in possession of a splendid voice capable of nonchalantly passing from pop to rock in the same concert.
Present and future are rich in ideas, "cadeau" that Patty will give to herself and to her public.
Her latest album "Nic Unic" (Nic for Nicoletta, Unic for unique), with the single "Che uomo sei" (What kind of man are you) released on 12 March. A piece that once again demonstrates her courage to cut new songs, choosing young songwriters who are not yet famous. She adds her own touch to all the texts with the sound, production and mixing entrusted to the best on the Italian pop scene. The music of two unknown but up-and-coming Roman composers.
Apart from the usual summer tour this album will also be accompanied by a promotional tour in the most important Italian theatres. As ever, more than ever, this is Patty Pravo's moment of glory. ROSSELLA MARTINI (PRESS AGENT)