Maysa Figueira Monjardim (June 6, 1936 – January 22, 1977), better known as Maysa Matarazzo, was a Brazilian singer-songwriter, performer and actress. She is also associated with

Bossa nova Bossa nova () is a style of samba developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is mainly characterized by a "different beat" that altered the harmonies with the introduction of unconventional chords and an innovat ...

music but is widely known as a

torch song A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affect ...

(''fossa'') interpreter.

Biography

The daughter of Alcibíades Guaraná Monjardim and Inah Figueira, Matarazzo showed talent at a young age and by twelve had written a

samba Samba (), also known as samba urbano carioca (''urban Carioca samba'') or simply samba carioca (''Carioca samba''), is a Brazilian music genre that originated in the Afro-Brazilian communities of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century. Havi ...

song, which later became a hit from her first album. She married André Matarazzo Filho, a member of a wealthy and traditional São Paulo family, and descendant of Count Francesco Matarazzo in 1954 at the age of 18 and two years later had a son, Jayme, who later would become a television director. In the late 1950s she formed a successful bossa nova group. Her tour to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

was a great success, and extended to Chile and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

, but Matarazzo had an affair with the show's producer, Ronaldo Bôscoli, a journalist and composer linked romantically to bossa nova's muse

Nara Leão Nara Lofego Leão (; January 19, 1942 – June 7, 1989) was a Brazilian bossa nova and MPB (popular Brazilian music) singer and occasional actress. Her husband was Carlos Diegues, director and writer of '' Bye Bye Brasil''. Life Leão was bor ...

. This led to a break between Nara and Ronaldo, as well as a fracture in the bossa nova movement. Matarazzo became "persona non grata" both to the bossa-novistas and the protest singers and her career faltered. She reacted by marrying Spaniard music producer Miguel Anzana, with whom she moved to Spain and began a series of presentations not only in Spain, but also

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

, Italy and France. Her personal life, already tumultuous, became even more chaotic, leading to her being called "the

Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and musician. One of the most successful and widely known rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage presence. ...

of Bossa Nova". But she later made a comeback with one of the first notable shows in Rio's "Canecão" venue, the equivalent of

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th and 57th Streets. Designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built ...

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Matarazzo also played the Olympia in Paris to a full house twice and enjoyed considerable success in Europe. Upon her return to Brazil, Matarazzo continued to blend her "broken love affair" trademarks with the more current festival style and occasional bossa nova hits. In the 1970s Matarazzo acted in a few

telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar drama genres around the world include '' teleserye'' ...

s in Brazil. She also composed the soundtrack for a

Rede Globo TV Globo (, "Globe TV", or simply Globo), formerly known as Rede Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965. It is owned by media conglomerate Grupo Globo. The TV stati ...

telenova just as the TV network became the powerhouse of Brazilian soap operas. She died in a car crash in 1977, on the Rio-Niterói bridge, which connects the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Niterói over the Guanabara Bay.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

/ref> In January 2009, 32 years after her death, a miniseries about her life was broadcast on Brazilian television and spanned two new books about one of Brazil's most charismatic divas. Matarazzo's style influenced the following generations of Brazilian female singers and composers, with great ascendancy in the works of

Simone Simone may refer to: * Simone (given name), a feminine (or Italian masculine) given name of Hebrew origin * Simone (surname), an Italian surname Simone may also refer to: * Simone (1918 film), ''Simone'' (1918 film), a French silent drama film * S ...

Cazuza Agenor de Miranda Araújo Neto, better known as Cazuza (; April 4, 1958 – July 7, 1990), was a Brazilian singer and songwriter, born in Rio de Janeiro. Along with Raul Seixas, Renato Russo and Os Mutantes, Cazuza, both while fronting Barão Ver ...

Leila Pinheiro Leila Pinheiro (born October 16, 1960 in Belém) is a Brazilian Bossa Nova singer, pianist and composer. Her self-titled debut album had the guest performances of Tom Jobim, João Donato, Ivan Lins, Francis Hime, and Toninho Horta, and she later ...

Fafá de Belém Fafá de Belém, born Maria de Fátima Palha de Figueiredo in Belém do Pará on August 9, 1956, is a Brazilian singer considered one of the great female singers of MPB (Musica Popular Brasileira). She took her stage name from the city of her b ...

and Ângela Rô Rô.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Convite para ouvir Maysa'' (1956) * ''Maysa'' (1957) * ''Convite para ouvir Maysa n. 2'' (1958) * ''Convite para ouvir Maysa n. 3'' (1958) * ''Convite para ouvir Maysa n. 4'' (1959) * ''Maysa É Maysa... É Maysa... É Maysa'' (1959) * ''Voltei'' (1960) * ''Maysa Canta Sucessos (1960) * ''Maysa, Amor... E Maysa'' (1961) * ''Barquinho'' (1961) * ''Maysa Sings Songs Before Dawn'' (1961) * ''Canção do Amor Mais Triste'' (1962) * ''Maysa'' (1964) * ''Maysa'' (1966) * ''Maysa'' (1969) * ''Ando Só Numa Multidão de Amores'' (1970) * ''Maysa'' (1974)

Compilation albums

* ''Os Grandes Sucessos de Maysa'' (1959) * ''A Música de Maysa'' (1960) * ''Ternura… é Maysa'' (1965) * ''Dois na Fossa- Maysa & Tito Madi'' (1975) * ''Para sempre Maysa'' (1977) * ''Bom é Querer Bem'' (1978) * ''Serie Retrospecto vol. 3'' (1979) * ''Convite para ouvir Maysa'' (1988) * ''Maysa por ela mesma'' (1991) * ''Canecão apresenta Maysa'' (1992) * ''Tom Jobim por Maysa – Viva Maysa'' (1993) * ''Maysa'' (1996) * ''Tom Jobim por Maysa'' (1997) * ''Bossa Nova por Maysa'' (1997) * ''Barquinho'' (2000) * ''Simplesmente Maysa'' (2000) * ''Quatro em Um – Volume 13'' (2001) * ''Retratos – Maysa'' (2004) * ''Novo Millennium'' (2005)

References

External links