Where are musical geniuses produced?
Not necessarily or exclusively at New York City’s famous Juilliard School of Music or on the streets of Vienna near the homes of Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart, Strauss and other musical immortals!
The composer of what has almost become Brazil`s equivalent of its national anthem, `Watercolor of Brazil` (Aquarela do Brasil) Ary Barroso was born in rural Uba, Minas Gerais (current population,107,000 inhabitants) .
Near donkey-drawn buggies and 309 kilometres from what was once the capital city of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro,this sleepy city is better known for its produce of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and milk production.
On 7 November 1903 a future musical genius of popular music Ary Evangelista Barroso was born, the son of a federal deputy (read Congressman).
Losing both parents when he was six years old, Ary was raised by his grandmother and taught the piano by his aunt Ritinha.
By the age of 12 Ary was playing piano for the local cinema.
With an inheritance from his Uncle Sabino, an ex-Finance Minister, Ary moved to Rio de Janeiro when he was to 17 years old to follow in the footsteps of the men in his family, studying law.
But music took him onto other paths and like the great Brazilian composer, virtuoso pianist Ernesto Nazareth, Ary ended up playing the piano in Rio for the silent movies in the epoch of Fatty Arbuckle, Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin.
Like George Gershwin in the United States, Ary began composing for the local theatre and received national and eventually international recognition, resulting in an invitation to compose for Hollywood.
Walt Disney had summoned the boy from Uba to compose for genial Disney portrayals of the American idealization of Brazil, joining such immortals as Carmen Miranda and her Banda da Lua..
After tremendous success but turning down offers to remain in Hollywood, Ary returned to his beloved Rio de Janeiro composing, heading in the golden age of radio( before television) a popular radio program and becoming a popular and beloved football announcer, city councilman and one of the founders of the Brazilian Union of Composers.
Until his death in 1964 in Leme, Rio de Janeiro —where a statue of the immortal composer lies—Ary led a full life always with characteristic Carioca humor as portrayed in detail by this wonderful film by Unirio university grad and Rio Innovation week currator Andre Weller.
The cast –which was in the audience Sunday at Estacao Net Gavea 3 movie house premiere–includes Dira Paes,Stepan Narcissian,Leo Jaime,Marcus Caruso ,Alan ,Rafael and Felipe Rocha and Juliana Guimaraes and is narrated by a great Brazilian actor Lima Duarte (who is only 95 years old).
This oboist– who proudly participated in 2007 with the Brazilian National Orchestra conducted by Lygia Amadio in the centennial anniversary of Ary with such greats as singers Jamelao and Elsa Soares –was particularly impressed by the clips from Hollywood films—from Disney to Eddy Duchin—featuring the popular masterpieces of Ary.
He and Heitor Villa Lobos set the path for other Brazilian geniuses including Tom Jobim to make successful careers and impacts on American music in an epoch long gone but not to be forgotten.
This is a wonderful 71- minute documentary film excellently produced ,edited and produced which will be shown again 9 October at 1345 Cinesystem Belas Arts(Praia de Botafogo 316) and Saturday 11 October (Cine Santa Teresa) .
It deserves a long run in Brazil( where’ home Saints don’t make miracles’) and being exported abroad, especially to the USA to recall an epoch before Uncle-Big Brother Donald when Brazil and the USA mutually admired each other and were loving friends.
