Guiomar Novaes
| Guiomar Novaes | |
|---|---|
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Novaes in 1919
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| Born |
February 28, 1895 São João da Boa Vista |
| Died | March 7, 1979 (aged 84) São Paulo |
Guiomar Novaes (February 28, 1895 - March 7, 1979) was a Brazilian pianist noted for individuality of tone and phrasing, singing line, and a subtle and nuanced approach to her interpretations. She is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century.
Born in São João da Boa Vista (in the area of São Paulo state in Brazil) as one of the youngest children in a very large family, she studied with Antonietta Rudge Miller and Luigi Chiafarelli before she was accepted as a pupil of Isidor Philipp at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1909, That year there were two vacancies for foreign students at the Conservatoire—and 387 applicants. Novaes played for a jury that included Debussy, Fauré and Moszkowski. Her pieces were the Paganini-Liszt Etude in E, Chopin's A flat Ballade and Schumann's Carnaval. She won first place. Debussy wrote a letter in which he reports his amazement about the little Brazilian girl who came to the platform and, forgetting about public and jury, played with tremendous beauty and complete absorption.
Novaes' technique and musical interpretations may have already been fully formed by the time she reached Paris. One of her first pieces for Philipp was Beethoven's Les Adieux Sonata. Philipp said she played the second movement much too fast and to repeat it slower. Novaes thought for a moment, then replayed with some differences in detail but at exactly the same tempo. This happened several times. Philipp finally gave up, saying later, "Even at that age, she had a mind of her own." Phillip later considered her one of his greatest students.
By the end of 1910, Novaes was a concert veteran. She made her official debut with the Chatelet Orchestra under Gabriel Pierné. She also played under Sir Henry Wood in England and on tour in Italy, Switzerland and Germany. Returning to Brazil at the start of World War I, she made her U.S. debut in Aeolian Hall in New York City in 1915. She was still only 19. Richard Aldrich at the New York Times dubbed her "a musician by the grace of God." Pitts Sanborn in the Boston Globe called her "the young genius of the piano." Dubbed "the Paderewska of the Pampas," she continued playing in the United States frequently, mostly in New York City. In 1922 she married Octavio Pinto, a civil engineer who was also a pianist and composer. Novaes performed for the Peabody Mason Concert series in 1954. She continued her career into the 1970s. Through the Sixties she would come to New York every December for a single concert at Carnegie Hall; her loyal fans would stand in line around the block in the snow to purchase tickets.
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