Destino Pernambuco

ABOUT PERNAMBUCO

Population

Gastronomy

Economy

Personalities

Airport

WHERE TO STAY

Hotels

Pousadas

Resorts

CULTURAL AGENDA

Movies

Show

Theater

Exhibitions

WHAT TO DO

Bars

Parks

Museums

Excursions

SERVICES

Easter Week

São João -June Festival

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

Capiba

Capiba, Lourenço da Fonseca Barbosa, was born in the municipality of Surubim on October 28, 1904. Since infancy, he learned to live with music. His father was Master Conductor in the City Band. At eight years of age, he already knew how to play the trumpet. His family moved to Recife when he was still a child. Afterwards, he went to live in Paraiba, first in the inland rural areas, afterwards in Campina Grande and João Pessoa, where he learned to play piano in the movie theaters of the city. At 20 years of age, Capiba recorded his first record with the waltz "Meu Destino (My Destiny)". In 1930, he returned to Recife where he finished a law course, never exercised the profession.

After passing the course, be began to work at the Bank of Brazil. It was with his earnings at the bank that Capiba financed his music. For this reason, he soon founded the Jazz Band Academy, and with Hermeto Pascoal and Sivuca, founded the trio "O Mundo Pegando Fogo (the World Catching Fire)". In was in this way that he firmed his musical career, in time becoming known for his beautiful compositions that varied from classical music to the Frevo. His songs are well known until today, for example; Maria Batânia (song); A Mesma Rosa Amarela (Samba); Serenata Suburbana (Guarânia) and Verde Mar de Navegar (Maracatu). His work totals more than 200 compositions, over one hundred alone are dedicated to Frevo.

He added musical scores to various poems of Carlos Drummond de Andrade, Vinício de Morais, and other Brazilian poets. One of his most famous carnival compositions - É de Amargar - was the winner at a Frevo festival in Pernambuco during 1934. Among other awards, in 1967 he conquered 5th place at the Second International Song Festival, with the music, Sao do Norte os que Vêm. Capiba died in Recife on the last day of the year in 1997 from a generalized infection, leaving much longing and a rich musical culture valued worldwide. After all is said and done, you simply do not have a Carnaval without the music of Capiba.

His principal compositions:

Valsa Verde (1931); É de Tororó (Maracatu, 1932); É de Amargar (Frevo, 1934); Quem Vai Pro Faró é o Bonde de Olinda (Frevo, 1937); Guerreiro de Cabinda (Maracatu, 1938); Gosto de te Ver Cantando (Frevo, 1940); Linda Flor da Madrugada (Frevo, 1941); Quem Dera (Frevo, 1942); Maria Betânia (ballad, 1944); Não Agüento Mais (Frevo, 1945); Que Bom Vai Ser (Frevo, 1945); E...Nada Mais (Frevo, 1947); É Luanda (Maracatu, 1949); Olinda Cidade Eterna (Samba, 1950); Recife Cidade Lendária (Samba, 1950); É Frevo, Meu Bem (1951); A Pisada É Essa (Frevo, 1952); Trem de Ferro (stylized, with verses by Manuel Bandeira, 1953); Soneto de Fidelidade (with Vinícius de Morais, 1955); Serenata Suburbana (Waltz, 1955); Nação Nagô (Maracatu, 1957); O Mais Querido (fast march, 1957); Sino Claro Sino (ballad, 1958); A Mesma Rosa Amarela (Samba, 1960); Cantiga do Mundo e do Amor (ballad, with Ariano Suassuna, 1962); Frevo da Saudade (1962); Madeira que Cupim não Rói (Frevo, 1963); O Anel Que Tu Me Deste (Frevo, 1965); Cala a Boca Menino (Frevo, 1966); São do Norte os Que Vêm (ballad, 1967); Europa França e Bahia (Frevo, 1968); Oh, Bela (Frevo, 1970); Sem Lei nem Rei (melody, 1970); De Chapéu de Sol Aberto (Frevo, 1972); Frevo and Ciranda (Frevo, 1974); Rei de Aruanda (Maracatu, 1974); Juventude Dourada (Frevo, 1975); Desesperada Solidão (ballad, 1983).

Some albums: :

· Capiba 80 anos - Claudionor Germano, Martha, Expedito Baracho and the Chord Orchestra of Pernambuco (1984)

· Carnaval começa com "C" de capiba (1961)

· Capiba 25 anos de frevo (1959)

Homages and awards:

1929/1930 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - First place in the competition of the Vida Domestic Magazine with the music "Flor das Ingratas", partnership with João dos Santos Coelho Filho (1929). Fourth place in the Carnaval Competition with the music "Não Quero Mais"

1933 - Recife PE - First place with the music "Tenho uma Coisa Para lhe Dizer" and third place with the frevo-ballad "Aguenta o Rojão", in competition promoted by the Diário de Pernambuco and Columbia Records.

1933 - Recife PE - Winner of the competition promoted by the Diário de Pernambuco, with the frevo, "É de Amargar", in postmortem homage to his brother Tantão

1935 - Recife PE - Winner of the competition promoted by the Diário de Pernambuco, with the music "É de Tororó"

1966 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Fourth place in the First International Festival for Popular Ballads with the music "Canção do Negro Amor", in partnership with Ariano Suassuna

1967 - São Paulo SP - Fifth place in the TV Record Festival of MPB (Popular Brazilian Music) with the ballad "São os do Norte que Vêm", partnership with Ariano Suassuna

1984 - Recife PE - Given homage on his 80th birthday with the Medal of Order of Guararapes, the Pernambucan Medal of Merit, by the Joaquim Nabuco Foundation and the Academy of Arts and Letters.

Chico Science

Born in Rio Doce, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Olinda, Chico Science was still known as Francisco de Assis França when he began to frequent the funk dance parties of the city. His idols: James Brown, the Sugar Hill Gang, Kurtis Brown, Grand Master Flash, and other great names of black music. They were the source of inspiration for Chico's sound, an artist of rare charisma and great stage presence

In 1994, Francisco França entered into one of the principal street dance groups in Recife - the Legião Hip Hop. His musical experience would surface three years later with the band called Orla Orbe. In the final of 80´s, without being brought down by the end of Orle Orbe, already known because of Chico Science, he created Loustal in homage to French cartoonist Jacques de Loustal, to mix rock from the 60´s, with soul, funk, and hip-hop.

In 1991, he became impressed with the energy of the percussionists from the Afro-block Lamento Negro hailing from the neighborhood of Peixinhos in Olinda, connected to the "Daruê Malungo" Center, Chico resolved to unite the percussive potency of regional rhythms, such as coco de roda and maracatu, with black music. Thus was born Manguebeat, one of the strongest movements, aesthetically speaking, of the Pernambuco culture. At the official debut of the band Nação Zumbi on June 1st of 1991, Chico Science would declare, "It is our responsibility to rescue the rhythms of the region and increment them together with a popular vision. I am going beyond".

Months after the introduction of the band's second CD called "Afrociberdelia", on the eve of the Carnaval of 1997, Chico Science died in an automobile accident at the city limits between Recife and Olinda. Hewas only 33 years of age at the time, with a lot of talent still remaining to show Brazil. He left thousands of fans desolate all over the country.

However, Nação Zumbi, with Jorge du Peixe on vocals, did not abandon the road. It is considered today, the best band in Brazil, with a full agenda of shows, including overseas.

Gilberto Freyre

Born in Recife on March 15, 1900, Gilberto Freyre was the Pernambucan who marked the history of Brazilian Sociology.Son of a Legal Judge and Full Professor, Alfredo Freire had his first contact with literature early through the book "Gulliver's Travels". His infancy, spent in Recife, was source of inspiration for his writings such as the "2nd Practical Guide, Historical and Sentimental" dedicated to Olinda. In 1911, during his first summer at the beach, Freyre filled his notebooks with designs, caricatures, and sonnets about the place he had come to know and become enchanted

Discussions concerning education began in 1916 at the Cine-Teatro Pathé in João Pessoa (PB). He was invited by a journalist from Paraiba, Carlos Dias Fernandes, to give a dissertation about Spencer and education in Brazil. Two years later, he initiated the series "Da outra America (From the Other America)", in the Diário de Pernambuco Newspaper. After nearly six years outside of Brazil, Gilberto Freyre returned to his native land to found, on April 28, 1924, the "Centro Regionalista do Nordeste (Northeast Regionalist Center)". In 1925, he organized the "Livro do Nordeste (Book of the Northeast)", in commemoration of the 100 year anniversary of the founding of the Diário de Pernambuco. Newspaper.

In the year of 1932, during research for "Casa-Grande & Senzala", he refused numerous invitations for employment, which resulted in a period of financial difficulties. In 1936, he published the continuation of "Casa-Grande & Senzala", "Casa-Grande & Senzala: Sobrados e Mocambos".

Elected Federal Deputy in 1946, he went on to Rio de Janeiro to participate in the work of the Constitutional Assembly. Eight years later, he was chosen by the United Nations Commission for study of the Racial Situation in South Africa. He completed seventy years of age residing in the province and working as if he was still a young intellectual: writing books, collaborating in national and international newspapers and magazines, directing courses, offering conferences, presiding over the Directing Council and animating the activities at the Joaquim Nabuco Institute for Social Research, presiding over and appearing at monthly meetings of the State Council for Culture, directing the Regional Center for Educational Research and the Tropicalogy Seminary at the Federal University of Pernambuco, along with attending to the invitations of universities from Europe and North America. In 1980, he received various homages for his eighty years; the Ipiranga Medal of Order from San Paulo; and the Aperipe Award for Order of Merit from the Government of Sergipe.

After an operation during January of 1986, he returned to Recife exclaiming, "Now I am home, my Apipucos (a neighborhood in Recife)". On October 28th of the same year, he was elected to chair number 23 at the Pernambuco Academy of Letters. On March 11, 1987, he left his last work for his Pernambucans; The Gilberto Freyre Foundation. The sociologist who covered the planet speaking about Pernambuco

Manoel Bandeira

One of the principal names of Modernism, Manoel Carneiro de Sousa Bandeira Filho was born in Recife in 1886. Early on, Bandeira moved with his family to Rio de Janeiro, retuning to Pernambuco a few years later. Finally, in 1903, at the age of 17, he would return definitively to Rio. In the year 1904, he fell victim to a bad case of tuberculosis. For motive of his illness, he went to Switzerland in 1913 for treatment.

It was in Europe that Manoel Bandeira initiated his life as a writer, with the book "A Cinza das Horas", which would only be published in 1917, in Brazil

Although considered the principal figure in Brazilian Modernism, Manuel Bandeira refused to participate in the Modern Art Week in San Paulo during 1922. His books contemplate the sensibility of emerging Modernism, trying to liberate poetry from the Academies, and European influences. In poetry, he abandoned the rhetorical tones of his predecessors by using colloquial speech to deal with trivial themes and day-to-day events, employing objectivity and humor. Nobody was immune to his work: conservative critics demonstrated indignation with the libertine poems; more modern authors, such as João Ribeiro and José Oiticica, were enthusiastic with the renovating mark made in Brazilian literature.

His position as one of the greatest writers in Brazilian history would only be consolidated nearly 20 years later, with the books "Estrela da Manhã", "Lira dos Cinqüenta Anos", "Mafuá do Malungo", "Opus 10" and "Estrela da Tarde". Though living a long life as a poet, Bandeira only saw earnings from his books as of 1937 when he was awarded the prize from the Felipe d'Oliveira Society. Along with being a collaborator for various newspapers and journals, he was an anthologist, historian, and biographer.

Manoel Bandeira died in 1968, at the age of 82, in Rio de Janeiro.

Mario Souto Maior

One of the major folklorists of the country, Souto Maior was born in Bom Jardim, in the interior of Pernambuco in 1920. He came to Recife to study at the Marist College in 1929. While still a student, he founded the newspaper called Geração, and collaborated on the supplements to the Jornal do Commercio and Diário de Pernambuco Newspapers.

He graduated in Social Sciences from the Law School of Alagoas. Due to an eye injury, he returned to his birth city, where he was named Secretary to the Mayor. Afterwards, he assumed the job as Public Attorney for the city of Surubim (PE); soon after, he performed the same function in João Alfredo, city in rural Pernambuco.

Souto Maior was also Mayor of Orobó (PE) . He worked for 36 years at the Joaquim Nabuco Foundation (FUNDAJ), in Recife.

Mário Souto Maior was a lawyer, historian, writer, and folklorist. He contributed greatly to the dissemination of our culture. He earned various awards, among them the Joaquim Nabuco Award, and the Pernambucan Academy of Letters Award. He participated in the First South American Congress on Folklore, sponsored by UNESCO, as special guest of honor representing Brazil.

Souto Maior wrote more than 70 books and chronicles. The Pernambucan Anthology of Folklore, the Folklore Dictionary of Cachaça, How a Dingbat is born, My Different Poems, and April Fool's day are some of his works

Souto Maior died in 2001 at the age of 81, as a result of pulmonary problems and a cardio-respiratory attack.

João Cabral de Melo Neto

João Cabral de Melo Neto was born in Recife on January 9, 1920. Part of his infancy was spent living at his family's sugar mills in the municipalities of São Lourenço da Mata and Moreno (PE). At ten years of age, with the family returning to Recife, the writer entered Ponte d'Uchoa College, belonging to the Marist Brothers, where he stayed until concluding the secondary level course. In 1938, he frequented the Lafayette Café, meeting place for intellectuals residing in Recife.

Two years later, the family moved to Rio de Janeiro, but the definitive move was only realized in 1942, the year in which he published his first book of poetry : "Pedra do Sono".

In Rio, after being a DASP functionary, he enrolled, in 1945, in a course for career diplomats. From then on, already placed in the Itamarati (Brazilian Foreign Service), he began a long pilgrimage to various countries. He was elected member of the Brazilian Academy of Arts and Letters on August 15, 1968. He took possession of his chair on May 6, 1969. In 1984, he was designated for the post of General-Counsel in the city of Porto (Portugal). In 1987, he returned to reside in Rio de Janeiro.

Literary activity accompanied him during all these years overseas, and within Brazil, earning him consideration for numerous awards.

In 1990, João Cabral de Melo Neto retired from the post of Ambassador. Aguilar Editors published his "Complete Works" in 1994.

From the poetic works of João Cabral we should mention the following titles: "Pedro do sono", 1942; "O engenheiro", 1945; "O cão sem plumas", 1950; "O rio", 1954; "Quaderna", 1960; "Poemas escolhidos", 1963; "A educação pela pedra", 1966; "Morte e vida severina e outros poemas em voz alta", 1966; "Museu de tudo", 1975; "A escola das facas", 1980; "Agreste", 1985; "Auto do frade", 1986; "Crime na Calle Relator", 1987; "Sevilla andando", 1989.

oão Cabral de Melo Neto passed away on October 9, 1999 in Rio de Janeiro, at the age of 79.

Romero Brito

Artist Romero Brito was born in Recife on October 6, 1963. His style is Pop Art from the end of the 50´s. With work developed at his studio in South Beach, Miami Florida, where he counts on the support of a staff of 30 workers, his art production runs around 650 copies per day.

The paintings of Romero Brito are a treat. The colors are always alive and vibrant. The figures are sympathetic and fun. All is well humored, transmitting happiness and joviality. The colors are systematically placed with total disregard for logic; however, this does not compromise the final result. To the contrary, it guarantees this characteristic mark of joviality and good humor.

With simple, almost geometric lines, the artist produces movements and gives life to sharply artificial figures. The scenes follow the same rule, that is to say, nothing of sophistication and yes, an impossible profusion of colors. Faces are cut in half, presenting each side with an entirely different coloring. Cats are painted with multi-colored balls and other charms. The artist flees from formality. For example: the left hand of a character does not necessarily have to have the same number of fingers as the right hand does. Childishness? Who knows if perhaps this is not the secret for such success?

Each small figure - kitten, puppy - transports the observer to a world of children's dream sequences. Obviously, each person interprets art in a different manner. Still: the same individual interprets art differently through varying phases of his own life. In 1987, the artist left Brazil for the United States. His success resounded. In 1989, Brito produced three art works for Absolut Vodka, reproduced in advertising campaigns found in 60 international publications. Among other relevant work, he projected the visuals at the Montreux Jazz Festival (Switzerland), reaching the European market. In 2002, he opened his art gallery in San Paulo.

Mestre Vitalino

Vitalino Pereira dos Santos, Master Vitalino, was born on July 10, 1909 at the Campos Ranch in Caruaru, located in the rolling coastal mountain foothills of Pernambuco. He lived in Alto do Moura, a villa around 3 and half miles from the center of the city.

When still small, Vitalino would model calves, mules, dolls and little dishes with the clay leftovers his mother gave him. He jokingly named this production loiça, a mispronunciation in Portuguese, as a child might refer to a plate as a prate. Vitalino went from his play loiça, to ceramic figurines with the piece "Wildcat Hunter": a margay climbing a tree, cornered by a dog, with the hunter giving aim. It was sold in the Caruaru Fair.

The material used for his pieces was massapé, clay taken from the outflow of the Ipojuca River and transported home in large woven baskets. The clay was dampened and left in the warehouse for two days to be cut, being then kneaded and modeled. The pieces were fired in a circular open-air kiln build behind the house.

Around 1930, at the age of 20, Vitalino made his first human groupings, with soldiers and cangaceiros (outlaw bandits),representing the world in which he lived. His creative capacity developed in such a manner that he ended up being the greatest popular ceramic artist in all of Brazil.

He made pieces of immigrants, flourmills, musicians, baptisms, weddings, rodeos, nativity scenes, Padres, Lampião, and Maria Bonita, representing his people, his work, the sadness, and also the happiness. His rural world was characterized in his work. Later on, he began to do made to order work: dentists, doctors operating, etc. He also began to paint his figures to satisfy buyers in the city who tried to "inspire" the Master. At first he only stamped his pieces, being illiterate; it was from 1950 on that he was able to authenticate his work by signing his name.

It was canvas artist Augusto Rodrigues who revealed the work of Vitalino to the rest of the country, organizing his first exposition in 1945 in Rio de Janeiro. While still living, he donated 250 pieces to the Museum of Popular Art in Caruaru at the request of the city government.

Forgotten and without government assistance, he died poor on January 20, 1963, a victim of smallpox.

After his death, the Master Vitalino Home Museum in Alto do Moura was inaugurated, where his principal works are on exhibit. The production is estimated at around 130 pieces, carefully reproduced by his family. Today, his most treasured works are from the first phase of his labors, especially those where the eyes of the dolls are empty and not painted. His children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren continue his work

QUEM SOMOS | EXPEDIENTE | PUBLICIDADE | FALE CONOSCO