On Sunday 26th of August, Salvador broadsheet A Tarde* bemoaned the news that the statue of Vinicius de Moraes in Itapuã, Salvador, is in a sorry state. According to journalist Rita Conrado, in her column Tempo Presente, the poet’s chair and spectacles are missing, presumed stolen, and it may not be long before someone takes the rest. The piece also mentioned the damage caused to engravings of the poets’ lyrics, corroded not by vandals but by the salty sea air.
In the Brazilian blogoshere, Felipe Jucá expressed his disdain at this apparent example of gross disrespect to the memory of the man who wrote some of the most beautiful lyrics of the twentieth century. And on his cultural blog, Mendes Junior also recently commented on the plight of this and other statues of great national writers.
Then, Last Sunday, the 9th of September, two weeks after the original piece appeared in the paper, A Tarde provided an update on the situation, with a full page written in verse by creative journalist and poet Zezão Castro. It would appear that the truth behind the disappearance of the chair and glasses is that they have not been stolen at all, just removed for repair. Castro spoke to Paulo Lima, director of the Fundacao Gregório de Mattos, the Salvador cultural organisation which created the statue and square in homage to Vinicius in Itapuã in 2003. Lima confirmed that the items will be back in their place by the 5th of October. True or not, the poet for the meantime remains without a chair and specs, no doubt disappointing tourists to Itapuã, who are unable to sit alongside the bronze man and take a snapshot.
Vinicius de Moraes is best known as the writer of world famous songs such as Garota de Ipanema (The Girl from Ipanema), with music by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Tarde em Itapuã (An Afternoon in Itapua) with music by Toquinho, and the play Orfeu da Conceição on which the 1959 film Black Orpheus is based.
And this month also saw the launch of the book Cancioneiro Vinicius de Moraes – Biografia e Obras Seleccionadas – a brand new comprehensive biography and songbook. The book was compiled by Paulo Jobim (son of Antonio Carlos Jobim) and Susana Moraes (the daughter of Vinicius). It is made up of a biography by journalist Sérgio Augusto, a compilation of 57 photographs and a songbook of music and lyrics of the poet’s best known work, including seven for which he wrote both the music and lyrics. Read more about it in Portuguese here.
You can read more in English about Vinicius de Moraes, Bossa Nova and Itapuã at Bossa in Bahia, a great introduction to all things Bossa and all things musical in Itapuã, written by one of the owners of this pousada (guesthouse) owned by an British-Brazilian couple. The Brazilian half of the couple is a musician and a Bossa Nova expert. My friend Emma stayed in their pousada earlier this year and highly recommends it!
Cancioneiro Vinicius de Moraes – Biografia e Obras Selecionadas
by Sérgio Augusto (biografia) and Paulo Jobim (coordenação musical)
Jobim Music 2007
R$ 215.00
The image at the top of this post is from this page at Fundação Gregório de Mattos.
* Articles from A Tarde print edition are only available online to subscribers of the print edition, so unfortunately I was unable to link directly to the original articles here.
1 response so far ↓
Vinicius and his chair « The Spectacled Bear // October 25, 2008 at 10:31 pm |
[...] I decided to check out for myself the bronze statue of Vinicius de Morães, the demise of which I wrote about here last [...]