POET OF THE BOSSA NOVA

Description

Poet, lyricist, essayist, and Brazilian playwright, Vinícius de Moraes (1913-1980) became a prominent figure in modern Brazilian music and literature. Alongside his long-time collaborator, composer, arranger, singer, and pianist/guitarist Antonio Carlos Jobim (1927-1994), known in Brazil as Tom Jobim, he composed hundreds of songs that have become true classics and transcended bossa nova, as they continue to be played and recorded by countless singers and instrumentalists in Brazil and around the world. This LP box set compiles some of Vinícius's early recordings, as well as recordings of some of his most famous songs by several stars of the genre, including João Gilberto, Luiz Bonfá, Sylvia Telles, and Elizete Cardoso. Orfeu da Conceição, a reworking of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice set during the Rio carnival, was itself adapted into the film Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro), which won an Oscar in 1959 for Best Foreign Language Film (France; directed by Marcel Camus). It also received the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and the British Academy Award in 1960. The film was a co-production between 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 São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, with its text also published in a deluxe edition illustrated 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 was transferred to the Brazilian embassy in Montevideo, returning to Brazil in transit. During his stay in Brazil, he married his third wife, Maria Lúcia Proença. VINYL 180 GR – LIMITED COLLECTOR'S EDITION