A very popular artist still in the 2000's, Angelo Branduardi can be somehow considered a progressive artist due to his great love for folk and classical music, that have always inspired his music. During his long career he's always been very coherent with his style and never fell into commercial productions.
The eponymous first album, from 1974, can be the most appealing for prog fans, but the great success came with Alla fiera dell'est, his first on Polydor, in 1976. Both the single and the LP were top hits in Italy, and also gave the artist a great notoriety in other european countries, like in Germany and France where most of his albums have been issued, often in different versions than the originals, and Branduardi constantly toured.
Combining traditional folk tunes (often from northern Europe) with classical music, Branduardi, a trained violinist, has created a distinctive style that's still very popular nowadays.
He has worked with many other italian artists during the years, and his collaboration with Banco del Mutuo Soccorso is noteworthy for prog fans, with Branduardi playing violin on Come in un'ultima cena and translating the lyrics for the english-sung version of that album, As in a last supper, and Banco's members playing with him on the live Concerto 3-LP box set. (Italianprog)