The famous conductor, arranger and television face died at the San Camillo hospital in Rome, where he arrived following a sudden complication. Funeral on Monday at 3pm in private
Mourning in the world of Italian music. Maestro Peppe Vessicchio died at the age of 69, the “wand” of Sanremo. The famous orchestra directorarranger and television face, was hospitalized in resuscitation and it went out this afternoon November 8th to the hospital Saint Camillus of Romewhere he had arrived following a sudden complication. «Peppe Vessicchio died for one interstitial pneumonia crashed very quickly,” confirms the hospital.
I funerals they will be held Monday 10 November at 3pm in the church Holy Guardian Angels of Piazza Sempionein the neighborhood where Vessicchio lived. There family let it be known «they will be strictly private».
Familiar face, from Sanremo to Amici
Conductor, composer, arranger and television face among the most loved by the public. Giuseppe Vessicchio, known to all as Peppe, is one of the most iconic figures and recognizable from the Sanremo Festival and Italian music, capable of combining very high professional competence with transversal popularity, also consolidated thanks to his role as teacher in the talent show «Friends of Maria De Filippi»on the small screen.
“It was home, it was Italy,” Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni greeted him. A common feeling, as demonstrated by the many farewell messages.
Born in Napoli on March 17, 1956, he took his first steps in the world of music collaborating with artists of the caliber of Gino Paoli, Edoardo Bennato and Peppino di Capri. With Paoli he signed hits such as «Ti lascio una canzone» and «Cosa will do when I grow up».
His career is inextricably linked to the Sanremo Festival, where he has been a permanent presence since 1990. He has won the event four times as conductor: in 2000 with Airplane Travel (“Sentimento”), in 2003 with Alexia (“To say no”), in 2010 with Valerio Scanu (“For all the times that”) and in 2011 with Roberto Vecchioni (“Call me again love”). Added to these successes are numerous awards as best arranger, which confirm his talent and musical sensitivity.
Arranger of great prestige, he has collaborated with the biggest names in Italian and international music, from Andrea Bocelli to Roberto Vecchioni, from Zucchero to Elio e le Storie Tese, from Ornella Vanoni to Ron and Biagio Antonacci. His versatility has led him to conduct orchestras in prestigious contexts, such as the Kremlin for a tribute to John Lennonand to lead the “Rockin”1000 project, the biggest rock band in the world. In recent years he has continued to experiment and next year he was planning the theater tour “Here I Meet the Soul” together with Ron.
The human approach: «Every person is like a rope»
«Each person is like a rope and has one vibration capacity – he said -. When we meet our true passions, we really start playing.” His approach it always was allegedlymore than academic: for him musical education coincided with the search for inner balance.
Vessicchio often spoke of the «natural harmony» as a key to understanding the world. Harmony, he said, is “the optimal condition of the elements of a whole”: not only in music, but in life. He believed that beauty was a proportion, a right vibration, a subtle balance between sound and silence. «Silence is the fabric into which sound intrudes», he loved to repeat. It was an aesthetic but also an ethic: respect for times, for listening, for the work of others. «You need to find your own speed», he explained, «a speed that is yours, not that of the market».
In 2024 the Orchestra of La Scala Theatre performed one of his chamber compositions, «Tarantina»: a symbolic recognition for an artist who, despite coming from pop music, had always sought dialogue with classical music. «Hearing my music at La Scala was like returning home after a long journey», he said with his usual modesty.
Beppe or Peppe? The “mystery” of the name
Beppe Vessicchio or Peppe Vessicchio? The Neapolitan conductor himself answered the question that has been a topic among fans and journalists for years, dispelling all doubts with his proverbial irony: «Above the Arno is Beppe, below the Arno is Peppe».
A geographical game that legitimizes both versions, but which leaves clear his link with the Neapolitan tradition: himself he signed himself «Peppe». For years many called him Beppe without knowing about the little misunderstanding. And him? He smiled good-naturedly.
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