Combined interests in Neapolitan opera and anthropology have brought Roberto de Simone to the upper echelon of Italian classical music. The director of the Lyric Theater in Naples, de Simone has overseen productions of many grand operas, including Don Giovanni, Cenerentola, Nabucco, Orfeo, The Magic Flute, and Falstaff. A theater history teacher at the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples in 1970, he served as artistic director of the Saint Theater until 1987. In 1995, he became director of the Conservatory of Music S. Pietro A. Majella, the Naples-based school where he studied piano and composition. ~ Craig Harris