Franco Battiato | en

Franco De Vita (born January 23, 1954 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a singer-songwriter popular in Latin music. One of three children born in Latin America to Italian immigrants, De Vita’s family returned to Italy when he was 3. The family moved back to Venezuela when De Vita was 13, and he later studied piano at the university level. In 1982, De Vita formed the group Icaro, which released one self-titled album in his homeland. Two years later, he released his first disc as a solo artist, simply titled Franco De Vita. The album spun off three Spanish-language hits: “Somos Tres,”...

François Chaplin trained at the Paris Conservatoire (CNSM) with the Bulgarian pianist Ventsislav Yankoff and with Jacqueline Robin (accompaniment and chamber music), and was unanimously awarded first prizes for piano and chamber music. He then followed the advanced course with Jean-Claude Pennetier. In 1987, he won the International Piano Competition in Senigallia (Italy), and received in 1989 the Mozart and Robert Casadesus Prizes at the International Competition in Cleveland. Those distinctions are the start of a brilliant international career. His recording of Debussy’s complete piano works has been unanimously acclaimed by the international press and has reaped many awards (Diapason...