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Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Maysa - The Sound Of Love

No Medio Da Noite
Maysa
The Sound Of Love
Orchestra Conducted By Simonetti
Cover Design: Stephen Haas Studio
United Artists UAL 3034
1959

From the back cover: Maysa, at present still unknown outside Brazil, is the most important popular singer in that country. She is a young woman, seemingly endowed with all the attributes, who has captured the imagination of the common people as well as the uncommon to the point of adulation.

Brazilian music has long been characterized by strong sentimentality full of sad tenderness, passion, and drama. Perhaps it can be said that these are national characteristics since much of Brazilian literature (those few book which we have been fortunate enough to have translated into English) is imbued with a poignant tender passion of "tristesse." In some of the titles of the songs on this album for instance, "Bob Die Tristeza" – "Good Morning Sadness" and "Felicidade Infeliz" – "Unhappy Happiness," the belief that in happiness, there are always elements of sadness. In the hands of fine creative talent, so tenuous a concept can be a thing of great beauty, but in the hands of a lesser artist it becomes banality.

Until the appearance of Maysa (pronounced Man-ee-za), Brazilian popular music did suffer unfortunately from rather banal interpretations. The public satisfied its thirst for color and imagination with music of foreign origin, such as boleros and the American blues form. Maysa, however, has changed much of this, since she has brought so much quality back to the essence of Brazilian singing.

A young woman of unusual beauty, very little is known of Maysa. Unlike its curious North American counterpart, the Brazilian public seems able to respect the wish for privacy of its star performers. It is known, however, that she is from a very well-to-do family in Rio, a "society girl" with a beautiful voice who had no need nor desire for a career. As Brazilian after Brazilian has summed it up for me, she sings for the love of singing. As a result, she has caught the imagination of the Brazilian public as well as its taste.

She is in no way, therefore, a truly professional singer and makes no attempt to be one. She started signing for her family and friends who encouraged her to sign for others. Much of her work now for example is for charities, although she has recently performed a great deal on Brazilian radio and television because of the demands of the public. – DeDe Daniels

Meu Mundo Caiu
No Meio Da Noite
Bronzes E Cristais
Por Causa De Voce
Bom Dia Tristeza
Felicidade Infeliz
Bouquet De Izabel
Mundo Novo
A Chuva Parou
Chminhos Cruzados
Sonho Feliz
Diplomacia

1 comment:

  1. OH yes! Now it's working! FABULOUS!! Love the cover and the Exotica of it. The music is GREAT!

    ReplyDelete

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