Annunzio Paolo Mantovani (Italian pronunciation: [anˈnuntsi̯o ˈpaolo mantoˈvaːni]) (15 November 1905 – 29 March 1980), known as Mantovani, was an Anglo-Italian conductor and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book British Hit Singles & Albums states that he was "Britain's most successful album act before The Beatles ... the first act to sell over one million stereo albums and had six albums simultaneously in the US Top 30 in 1959".