Description
Brazilian poet, lyricist, essayist and playwright, Vinícius de Moraes (1913-1980) became a seminal figure in modern Brazilian music and literature. Along with his longtime collaborator, composer, arranger, singer, and pianist/ guitarist Antonio Carlos Jobim (1927-1994), known in Brazil as Tom Jobim, he composed hundreds of songs which have become true classics and have transcended the bossa nova, as they continue to be played and recorded by countless singers and instrumentalists within Brazil and throughout the world. This LP set compiles some of the earliest recordings by Vinícius, as well as recordings of some of his most celebrated songs by some of the stars of the genre, among them Joo Gilberto, Luiz Bonfá, Sylvia Telles, and Elizete Cardoso. Orfeu da Conceição, a reworking of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice set in the carnival in Rio, was itself adapted into the film Black Orpheus, which won an Academy Award in 1959 as the Best Foreign Language Film (France; director, Marcel Camus). It was also awarded the Palme d'Or at the Cannes International Film Festival and the 1960 British Academy Award. The film was a co-production among France, Italy and Brazil, and included a song by Jobim and Moraes, "A Felicidade", which became an international hit. The play was staged in 1956 in both São Paulo and in Rio de Janeiro, having also its text published in a deluxe edition illustr ated by Carlos Scliar. At the end of 1956, Vinícius returned to France, being transferred in 1957 from the Brazilian Embassy to the Brazilian representation at UNESCO. In 1958 he would be transferred to the Brazilian embassy in Montevideo, returning to Brazil in transit. While in Bra zil, he would marry his third wife, Maria Lúcia Proença. Virgin Vinyl 180 Gram Gatefold Edition.
