Maestro Roberto De Simone, 91, a musician, composer, director, and prominent scholar of popular traditions, died at his home in Naples. He had lately been released from the hospital, where he had been admitted for medical reasons. His sister Giovanna and nephew Alessandro remained at his side until the end. The funeral will be held on Wednesday, April 9 at 4 p.m. in the Cathedral for Naples, with the funeral home set up at the San Carlo Theater, as confirmed by Mayor Gaetano Manfredi. De Simone, a key character in Italian culture in the second half of the twentieth century, was a leader in the rediscovery and improvement of the South's popular origins. In 1967, he established the Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare, and in 1976, he signed the famous opera "La Gatta Cenerentola". From 1981 until 1987, he served as creative director of the Teatro San Carlo, helping to revive the Neapolitan eighteenth-century repertory. Author of numerous works, notably "Requiem" in memory of Pier Paolo Pasolini (1985) and "Eleonora" (1999), dedicated to the bicentenary of the Neapolitan Revolution, he transported his art to the most significant worldwide theaters, leaving an unforgettable impact on music and collective memory.