Alberto Fernando Riccardo Semprini was an English pianist, famous for appearances on the BBC, mainly on radio. Born in Bath, Somerset, England of Italian ancestry, Semprini showed early talent for both the piano and cello. He graduated from the Verdi Conservatory in Milan in 1928, having studied composition and conducting as well as honing his skills at the piano.

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  • Alberto Fernando Riccardo Semprini was an English pianist, famous for appearances on the BBC, mainly on radio. Born in Bath, Somerset, England of Italian ancestry, Semprini showed early talent for both the piano and cello. He graduated from the Verdi Conservatory in Milan in 1928, having studied composition and conducting as well as honing his skills at the piano. His initial fame came from headlining a light music programme, Semprini Serenade, which he introduced with the words: "Old ones, new ones, loved ones, neglected ones". It first aired on BBC Radio in 1957 and continued for around 25 years. His 'house band' was the New Abbey Light Symphony Orchestra. He also wrote a number of original compositions on the lighter side of the musical repertoire, including Mediterranean Concerto, which he used as the theme tune for his radio show. His surname was later used as a pastiche profanity in an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus, where it referred to an unspecified body part (likely part of the male sexual anatomy, given its context in the Naughty Chemists' Sketch). Later in the same episode it was referred to as a body rub, and an aftershave used by Prof J P Gumby.
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  • Alberto Fernando Riccardo Semprini was an English pianist, famous for appearances on the BBC, mainly on radio. Born in Bath, Somerset, England of Italian ancestry, Semprini showed early talent for both the piano and cello. He graduated from the Verdi Conservatory in Milan in 1928, having studied composition and conducting as well as honing his skills at the piano.
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  • Semprini
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