Luis Bacalov, Academy Award winner for his score for Il Postino, passed away today in Rome, Italy. He was also nominated for an Oscar for The Gospel According to St. Matthew early in his career, and has scored other movies including Sea of Dreams, Assassination Tango, Woman on Top, The Love Letter, Polish Wedding and Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2 (additional music). Most recently, Bacalov has written the scores for Hidden Moon and Michael Radford's Elsa & Fred.
Bacalov was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and immigrated to Italy as a young man. A virtuoso pianist, he began his career writing and arranging songs for popular Italian artists. He segued into film scoring in the 1960s, and has written nearly 150 scores over his career.