Clara Nunes
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![Clara Nunes, 1971. National Archives of Brazil.](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4f/Clara_Nunes_no_Zicartola.tif/lossy-page1-220px-Clara_Nunes_no_Zicartola.tif.jpg) |
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Birth name
| Clara Francisca Goncalves
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Also known as
| Guerreira (
Warrior
)
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Born
| (
1942-08-12
)
August 12, 1942
Caetanopolis
,
Minas Gerais
, Brazil
|
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Died
| April 2, 1983
(1983-04-02)
(aged 40)
Rio de Janeiro
, Brazil
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Genres
| Samba
,
MPB
|
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Years active
| 1960 – 1983
|
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Musical artist
Clara Nunes
(
Portuguese pronunciation:
[?kla??
?nunis]
, August 12, 1942 – April 2, 1983) was a Brazilian
samba
and
MPB
singer, considered one of the greatest of her generation. She was the first female singer in Brazil to sell over 100,000 copies of a record,
[1]
with "Tristeza Pe No Chao"
[2]
and her achievements in the samba genre earned her the title of "Queen of Samba".
[3]
She had an enormous success with samba songs written by composers such as
Nelson Cavaquinho
,
Paulinho da Viola
and
Chico Buarque
, in addition to songs devoted to
orishas
and
Portela
, her favorite
samba school
. Among her hits, recorded in 16 solo albums, are "Voce passa, eu acho graca" (1968), "E baiana" (1971), "Conto de areia" (1974), "O mar serenou" (1975), "Coracao leviano" (1977), "Na linha do mar" (1979), "Morena de Angola" (1980), and "Nacao" (1982). At the peak of her career, Nunes would sell more than a million copies of each album she released.
[1]
Nunes was also a researcher of the rhythms and folklore of
Brazilian popular music
, and traveled several times to
Africa
to search for the roots of black music. Familiar with
Afro-Brazilian
dances and traditions, she converted to
Candomble
in her later life. On April 2, 1983, she died at age 40 after suffering from
anaphylaxis
during a surgery to treat
varicose veins
. Even today she remains one of the most popular singers in Brazil.
Biography
[
edit
]
Early life
[
edit
]
Clara Francisca Goncalves was born on August 12, 1942, in
Cedro
,
Paraopeba
,
Minas Gerais
,
1
where she lived until the age of 16.
[4]
She was the youngest child of Manuel Pereira de Araujo, and Amelia Goncalves Nunes. Her father was a
joiner
in the Cedro & Cachoeira textile mill, and was known in the town as
Mane Serrador
.
2
He was also a
violeiro
and a participant in the local
Festival of the Three Kings
. Manuel died in 1944, and soon after, the young Clara would also lose her mother. Orphaned, she would be raised by her older sister Dindinha (Maria Goncalves) and brother Jose (known as Ze Chilau). At that time, Clara attended
catechism
classes in the Church of the Eucharistic Crusade. There, she also sang
litanies
in
Latin
in the church choir.
According to her own words, she grew up listening to
Carmen Costa
,
Angela Maria
, and especially
Elizeth Cardoso
and
Dalva de Oliveira
, the latter who had always been a big influence on her music, even though she kept a unique style. In 1952, as a young girl, Clara won her first singing contest, held in her hometown, performing "Recuerdos de Ypacarai". As a prize, she won a blue dress. At age 14, Clara became a
weaver
in the Cedro & Cachoeira factory, the same in which her father had also been an employee.
At age 16, she moved to
Belo Horizonte
after her brother Ze Chilau killed her boyfriend in 1957. In the state capital, Clara lived with her sister Vicentina and her brother Joaquim. There, she worked as a weaver by day and attended school by night. On weekends, Clara participated in the rehearsals of the Renaissance Choir, at the church in the neighborhood where she lived. At that time, she met guitar player
Jadir Ambrosio
, known for having composed the anthem of
Cruzeiro
. Admired for her voice, he took Clara to sing in several local radio programs, such as
Degraus da Fama
, in which she performed under the name of Clara Francisca.
Name change and early success
[
edit
]
In the early 1960s, Clara also met Aurino Araujo (brother of
Eduardo Araujo
), who introduced her to many artists. Aurino would also be her boyfriend for ten years. The record producer Cid Carvalho persuaded her to change her
stage name
to Clara Nunes, using her mother's
maiden name
. She would
change her name
once again, becoming Clara Francisca Goncalves Pinheiro after her marriage.
In 1960, still working as a weaver, she won the Minas Gerais stage of a contest named
"The Golden Voice of ABC"
,
[3]
performing "Serenata do Adeus", composed by
Vinicius de Moraes
and previously recorded by
Elizeth Cardoso
. In the national stage of the competition, held in
Sao Paulo
, she won the third place with the song "So Adeus" (composed by Jair Amorim and Evaldo Gouveia).
Thereafter, Clara Nunes began singing at Radio Inconfidencia in Belo Horizonte. For three consecutive years she was named the best radio singer of Minas Gerais. She also began to perform as a crooner in nightclubs and bars in the state capital, later working with then bassist
Milton Nascimento
, then known as Bituca. At that time, she made her first appearance on television, performing on
Hebe Camargo
's show in Belo Horizonte. In 1963, Clara Nunes got her own TV show on Belo Horizonte's Itacolomi channel, titled
Clara Nunes Presents
. In the program, which aired for a year and a half, she received famous artists such as Altemar Dutra and Angela Maria as guests.
Following the end of her TV show, in 1965, Clara moved to the
Copacabana
neighborhood in
Rio de Janeiro
to pursue a national career as singer.
First recordings
[
edit
]
After a few LPs featuring assorted styles, she became a samba vocalist in the 1970s and became well known. In 1974, Clara had a hit with the samba
"Conto de Areia"
and her album sold approximately 300,000 copies. It was a remarkable achievement which helped to overturn the idea that women were unable to become big record sellers (in Brazil) and thereby stimulated other companies to invest in other female samba musicians, such as
Alcione
and
Beth Carvalho
. In 1975, she toured
Europe
.
The following albums transformed her into one of the
"three samba queens"
of her time, along with the two above-mentioned musicians. In the second half of the decade, she released one album every year, all of them selling well and featuring historic tracks such as
"Juizo Final"
,
"Coracao Leviano"
and
"Morena de Angola"
. Other hits were
"Voce Passa e Eu Acho Graca"
,
"E Baiana"
,
"Ilu Aye - Terra da Vida"
,
"Tristeza, Pe no Chao"
,
"A Deusa dos Orixas"
,
"Macunaima"
,
"O Mar Serenou"
,
"As Forcas da Natureza"
,
"Guerreira"
,
"Feira de Mangaio"
,
"Portela na Avenida"
and
"Nacao"
.
Clara was also famous for songs crafted from the rhythms of Umbanda, her Afro-Brazilian religion, and for her typical costumes, as she always dressed in white and wore many necklaces and African beads.
[5]
Death
[
edit
]
On March 5, 1983, Clara Nunes underwent a seemingly simple surgery to treat
varicose veins
, but ended up having an allergic reaction to one of the components of the
anesthetic
. Clara suffered a
cardiac arrest
and remained hospitalized for 28 days in Clinica Sao Vicente's Intensive Care Unit. Meanwhile, the singer was the victim of a series of speculations that circulated in the media over her hospital admission, including "
artificial insemination
,
abortion
,
suicide
attempt, and
spousal abuse
by her husband". A similar episode occurred after the death of her friend, singer
Elis Regina
, in the previous year.
In the morning of April 2, 1983 ? a
Holy Saturday
? Clara Nunes was officially declared dead, at the age of 40, victim of an
anaphylactic shock
.
[6]
The inquiry opened by the Regional Medical Council of Rio de Janeiro to investigate whether there was medical negligence in the case was filed, which would increase speculation about her cause of death. The singer's funeral was attended by more than 50,000 people in the court of the
Portela Samba School
. Her burial at
Cemiterio Sao Joao Batista
was accompanied by a crowd of fans and friends. In her honor, the street in
Oswaldo Cruz
where Portela is located was named after her.
Discography
[
edit
]
Albums
[
edit
]
- 1966
A voz adoravel de Clara Nunes
- 1968
Voce passa eu acho graca
- 1969
A beleza que canta
- 1971
Clara Nunes
- 1972
Clara Clarice Clara
- 1973
Clara Nunes
- 1973
Poeta, Moca e Violao
(with Vinicius de Moraes e Toquinho)
- 1974
Brasileiro Profissao Esperanca
(with Paulo Gracindo)
- 1974
Alvorecer
- 1975
Claridade
- 1976
Canto das tres racas
- 1977
Forcas da natureza
- 1978
Guerreira
- 1979
Esperanca
- 1980
Brasil Mestico
- 1981
Clara
- 1982
Nacao
Notes
[
edit
]
- 1.
^
At the time of her birth, the Cedro district was part of the
Paraopeba
municipality, but then was emancipated and became a city of its own, under the name of
Caetanopolis
.
- 2.
^
Mane
is a popular nickname for Manuel, while
Serrador
means "sawyer" in
Portuguese
.
General references
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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International
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National
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Artists
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