Maria Antônia Moura de Castro

Maria Antônia Moura de Castro Massé was born in Rio de Janeiro on June 13, 1910. She was a Brazilian pianist who lived in Paris. She was the daughter of Maria da Glória Moura de Castro and the filmmaker and film industry entrepreneur Vital Ramos de Castro, owner of nearly twenty cinemas in Rio de Janeiro, including the Cine Plaza. She was married to the French architect Alfred Nestor Georges Massé and mother of Louis François Bernard Massé. She was the niece of Colonel José Pires de Andrade and daughter-in-law of the lawyer and journalist Alfred Massé, former Minister of Commerce of France.

Maria Antônia de Castro began her career as a child, performing concerts in various countries. She started playing at the age of three.[1] In 1916, she gave her debut concert, outdoors, at Quinta da Boa Vista in Rio de Janeiro, at only six years old. On the occasion of the composer Darius Milhaud's visit to Brazil, the two played a Mozart sonata together at the Hora Artística concert at the Lycée Français.[2] Maria Antônia gave concerts shortly afterwards in Buenos Aires and Montevideo. In 1920, at the age of nine, she performed at Aeolian Hall in New York, playing pieces by Villa-Lobos. Also on tour in the United States, she performed in Washington[3]. In 1920, she gave a recital at the Salle Gaveau in Paris. In 1921, she played at the Catete Palace before the President of the Republic, Epitácio Pessoa. She also played at the Guanabara Palace, in a private performance for King Albert I of Belgium. In April 1921, at only ten years old, she gave a concert at the Salle Érard accompanied by the orchestra of the Société des Concerts du Conservatoire[4]. In the same hall, in June of the same year, she performed the piece Wedding Cake by Saint-Saëns[5]. In July 1923, she would play again for Epitácio Pessoa, but this time at a reception in his honor offered by the Comité France-Amérique in its halls on the Champs-Elysées in Paris.[6] The pianist's precocious talent attracted the attention of foreign newspapers, including the New York Times, which referred to her as "a musical prodigy who at the age of nine performs Bach, Handel, Beethoven and Chopin, having, on her way to Europe, given very successful recitals in this city"[7].

Throughout her adult career, she distinguished herself as an interpreter of Villa-Lobos and other Brazilian composers.

She toured several countries, especially Brazil and France, countries where she lived, but also performing in cities such as Rome, Vienna, Berlin, Luxembourg, Brussels and London.

Maria Antônia de Castro resided in Paris for most of the years between 1920 and 1946, returning to Brazil repeatedly, many of which she gave recitals at the Municipal Theatre of Rio de Janeiro. In an interview with Correio da Manhã, she expressed: "I always leave for Europe with the desire to return to my Brazil. Unfortunately, I rarely manage to fulfill this desire, bound by commitments that I cannot escape. We are slaves to our art and this requires environments that are broader than those of our own homeland, if we wish to achieve a name and definitive consecration"[8].

Before moving to France, Maria Antônia had taken piano lessons in Brazil with the composer Henrique Oswald. To encourage the development of his prodigy daughter's talent, the filmmaker Vital Ramos de Castro decided to move with his entire family to Paris in 1920 so that his daughter could pursue her musical studies there[9]. Vital Ramos de Castro acquired a large house near the Parc Monceau where he lived with his wife and five children. His house would become an important meeting point and venue for musical gatherings for Brazilian artists based in Paris, such as the composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, who would work on the sound design for one of his films, the conductor Souza Lima, and the painter Tarsila do Amaral[10], a friend of Maria Antônia[11]. The Castro family's circle of friends in Paris also included, for example, Ambassador Luís Martins de Souza Dantas and the Portuguese conductor Luís de Freitas Branco. In 1923, art critic Sérgio Milliet highlighted the pianist Maria Antônia as a representative of Brazil's "intellectual embassy" in Europe, alongside figures such as Tarsila, Brecheret, Malfatti, Souza Lima, and Villa-Lobos. Milliet considered Maria Antônia's triumph in Paris to be the consecration of her artistic genius[12].

Having recently arrived in Paris in 1920[13], Maria Antônia was invited[14] to study at the Paris Conservatory, where she was a student of Professor Isidor Philipp, a friend of Massenet and Saint-Saens. In 1921, she took part in another concert in Paris organized by Barrozo Netto, along with other Brazilian pianists. In 1923, Maria Antonia distinguished herself in the final audition of the Conservatory course, held at the Salle Érard, receiving the First Prize[15] at only thirteen years of age[16]. At the same Salle Érard she later performed with Bidu Sayão. She also participated alongside Bidu Sayão, among other artists, in a concert at the Teatre Femina, in honor of President Washington Luís. Other Brazilian artists also participated in the event, promoted by Ambassador Souza Dantas: the singer Vera Janacópulos, the violinist Carmen Castelo Branco, the tenor Camargo and the conductor Souza Lima[17]. In 1926, Maria Antonia de Castro performed Henrique Oswald's Andante and Variations for piano and orchestra at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris[18], accompanied by the Orchestre Colonne, under the direction of the French composer Gabriel Pierné[19]. In 1927, she was invited to participate in the Beethoven centenary celebrations in Vienna. In 1929, she performed at the Tivoli Theatre in Lisbon, selling out the theatre, accompanied by the orchestra of Maestro Freitas Branco. In the same year, she participated in an official concert organized by the French government at the Sorbonne before an audience of five thousand people, being the only foreign artist invited[20]. In 1937, she participated in the Gala Soirees of the Brazilian Delegation to the Universal Exposition in Paris[21]. In the same year, she recorded music by Villa-Lobos and Pierné for Pathé[22]. In 1938, she was praised by Parisian critics for her remarkable concerts at the Societé des Concerts du Conservatoire and the Concerts Colonne[23]. On June 14, 1939, she gave a "recital on the microphone" on the BBC in London, presenting works by Villa-Lobos, Barrozo Netto, Henrique Oswald, Frutuoso Vianna, Debussy, Ravel and Philipp[24]. In the same year, she recorded compositions by Villa-Lobos in New York for Columbia Records, most notably Choros No.

5 "Alma Brasileira"[25]. After marrying Georges Massé in the 1930s, Maria Antonia and her husband settled in the bride's father's residence in Paris, near the Parc Monceau. The hôtel particulier, built in 1879 by the architect Léopold Cochet, had been chosen by Vital de Castro in honor of his daughter because its facade was decorated with musical allegories. Maria Antônia regularly visited Rio de Janeiro and temporarily settled in Brazil in 1940 due to the Nazi occupation of France. Her return to Brazil was reported on the front page of the Rio de Janeiro newspaper Correio da Manhã. Maria Antônia, however, would return to Paris a few months later to accompany her husband who remained in France: "I cannot give concerts due to a very personal scruple, born of my sensitivity, because my husband is on the front lines"[26].

In 1943, she presented pieces by Strauss at the Municipal Theatre of Rio de Janeiro[27]. In 1944, she performed in São Paulo, at the Sociedade de Cultura Artística, her last performance in Brazil[28]. The pianist died of tuberculosis in Leysin, Switzerland, on December 2, 1946, at only thirty-five years of age. It was reported in the newspapers of the time that the plane carrying the pianist's body for her burial in Brazil had an accident in Portugal. The pianist is buried in the family plot at the São João Batista Cemetery in Rio de Janeiro.

The list of cities where she performed as a pianist includes the following in Brazil and abroad: Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Recife and Belém; Paris, London, Lisbon, Brussels, Antwerp, Liège, Luxembourg, Nice, Cannes, Fontainebleau; and also New York, Washington, Buenos Aires and Montevideo.

She performed concerts under the direction of the great conductors of her time, such as Gabriel Pierné, Philippe Gaubert, René Baton, Tracol, Casadesus, Eugene Biot, Francisco Braga, Pedro de Freitas Branco, Eloor Arpers and Alexander Sienklevicz.

As a soloist, she performed with orchestras such as Colonne, Lamoureux, Pasdeloup, the Conservatoire Orchestra and the Paris Orchestra, among others.[29] In the foyer of the National Institute of Music (historic building of the current School of Music of UFRJ) in Rio de Janeiro, a portrait was installed, painted in 1921 by Madame Valmalete in Paris, in homage to the pianist Maria Antonia de Castro[30] (Madeleine, Madame Valmalete's daughter, was also a pianist and a friend of Maria Antonia.

Marcel, her son, was Maria Antonia's manager). The portrait was widely praised by the French press during its exhibition at the Bernheim Exhibition of 1921 held in Paris[31].

The composer Barrozo Neto dedicated some of his works to the pianist Maria Antônia de Castro: Danse des Fantoches, Feux Follets[32] and La Ronde qui passe[33].

[1] «How they see us in France».

Revista da semana. August 18, 1928, p. 35. [2] LAGO, Manoel Aranha Corrêa do (2005, pp. 198-199) (Lago cites the Concert Program existing in the Paul Guerra Archive). The Veloso-Guerra circle and Darius Milhaud in Brazil.

Rio de Janeiro: Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro. pp. 198–199. [3] «Notes and News - Maria Antonia».

Correio da Manhã. February 4, 1920. [4] BERTHOLET, Edouard (1994).

Reincarnation in the Modern World. Rome: Edizioni Mediterranee. [5] RATNER, Sabina Teller (2002, p. 259). Camille Saint-Saëns, 1835-1921: A Thematic Catalogue of His Complete Works.

Oxford: Oxford University Press. [6] «Latin America In honor of M. Epitacio Pessoa former President of Brazil».

Le Figaro. July 9, 1923. [7] «Maria Antonia on her way to France. The little Brazilian pianist and the United States press».

Correio da Manhã. February 9, 1920. [8] «The great Brazilian pianists». Correio da Manhã.

October 17, 1926, p. 3. [9] «Notes and News - Maria Antonia». Correio da Manhã.

February 4, 1920. [10] SOUZA LIMA, João de. Moto Perpétuo: a visão poética da vida através da música - Autobiografia do Maestro Souza Lima.

1982: Ibarra. pp. 110–111. [11] GRIECO, Donatello (2009, p. 60). Roteiro de Villa-Lobos. Brasília: Fundação Alexandre de Gusmão.

[12] MILLIET, Sérgio. «Cartas de Paris.».

Ariel. Nº6, Março de 1924. [13] «Notas e Notícias - Maria Antonia». Correio da Manhã.

February 4, 1920. [14] «BRAZILIAN WONDER MUSICAL CHILD TO VISIT STATES SOON». The Daily Capital Journal. Salem.

November 13, 1919. [15] “The city gained a sumptuous cinema”. A Noite. September 29, 1940, p.

5. [16] “Musical Monument - Maria Antônia”. Ilustração Brasileira. Year 4, No.

33, May 1923. [17] SOUZA LIMA (1982, p. 102). Perpetual motion: the poetic vision of life through music: autobiography of maestro Souza Lima.

São Paulo: Ibrasa. [18] “The pianist Maria Antonia in Paris”. Correio da Manhã. March 23, 1926, p.

2. [19] MARTINS, José Eduardo. Henrique Oswald: musician of a romantic saga.

[S.l.: s.n.]. [20] “The pianist Maria Antônia and her successes in Portugal and France”. Correio da Manhã. April 23, 1929, p.

5. [21] «Radiophonices». Diario de Notícias. June 1, 1939, p.

8. [22] «Research Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music» (Available at: http://www.charm.rhul.ac.uk/discography/search/search_advanced?operatorSel_0=and&parameterSel_0=performer&parameterKey_0=artist_029245&parameterKeyTxt_0=Maria%20Antonia%20de%20Castro,%20piano).

[23] «Radiophonices». Diario de Notícias. June 1, 1939, p. 8.

[24] Op cit.

[25] Entry “Choros nº 5” in Wikipedia. (Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%B4ros_No._5).

[26] «Brazilian pianist Maria Antônia Massé returned to Rio yesterday». Correio da Manhã. May 5, 1940. [27] «Art, Elegance and Charity».

Correio da Manhã. September 25, 1943, p. 1. [28] OLIVEIRA, Clóvis. «Musical Chronicle of São Paulo».

Resenha Musical (São Paulo), nº 65-76, 1944. [29] «The renowned Brazilian pianist Maria Antonia passed away in Switzerland».

Jornal de Notícias. São Paulo. Edition 194. (1946). [30] ALENCAR PINTO, Aloysio (July 8, 1999). «Trajectories Series».

(Available at: http://abmusica.org.br/downloads/Aloysio%20de%20Alencar%20Pinto.pdf) [31] «The young pianist Maria Antonia - The portrait of the talented Brazilian artist in the "Bernhein" exhibition - praise from the Parisian press».

Jornal Correio Paulistano. Edition 20976. (1921).

[32] BARROZO NETO, Joaquim Antonio. Feux Follet (score). (Available at: https://painelsesc.sesc.com.br/Partituras.nsf/viewLookupPartituras/FCAF1003A9026F4F83257C0F00662E53/$FILE/BarrozoN_Feuxfollets.pdf). [33] SANTOS, Helen Rodrigues (2006).

JOAQUIM ANTONIO BARROZO NETTO: ANALYSIS OF THE CHILDREN'S SUITES FOR PIANO FOR FOUR HANDS. Rio de Janeiro: University of Rio de Janeiro. pp. 217–218.