Buarque, Chico

(1944– )

   Brazilian musician, playwright, and writer. Born Francisco Buarque de Holanda, in Rio de Janeiro, Buarque is one of the towering figures of popular Brazilian music of the 20th century, along with Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and other figures of the late 1960’s Tropicalista movement in Brazil. His early years were spent in São Paulo until 1953, when his father, the noted Brazilian historian Sérgio Buarque de Holanda, was invited to lecture at the University of Rome. Upon his return to Rio, he abandoned early studies in architecture at the Universidade de São Paulo in favor of early incursions into the burgeoning bossa nova musical scene initiated by João Gilberto in the late 1950s. Popular acclaim arrived in 1966 when his song “A Banda” (The Marching Band), interpreted by one of the undisputed queens of bossa nova, Nara Leão, won the well-known Festival de Música Popular Brasileira (Festival of Brazilian Popular Music), transmitted by national television that year. Earlier, Buarque had released a single, “Pedro Pedreiro,” which attracted attention from Brazilian music aficionados for his smooth singing style and his delicate lyrics. Some of the edgier artists of the Tropicalista movement had charged him with artistic conservatism until 1968, when Buarque wrote and scored a play, Roda Viva (Live Wheel), which garnered him the censure of the military dictatorship. Partly a bleak meditation on the destructive nature of the adoration of fans and partly early performance theater, Roda Viva concluded with the dismemberment of its pop-star protagonist on stage. Audience members were offered pieces of the artist’s flesh to consume—in reality chicken meat—to participate fully in the theater experience. The play debuted in Rio de Janeiro under the direction of José Celso Martinez Corrêa to limited financial success but soon attracted attention when, during a second staging in São Paulo, a group of soldiers interrupted the performances, destroyed sets, and briefly jailed the artist. Buarque then went into exile in Italy. During this time, he wrote songs critical of the dictatorship of General Emílio Garrastazú Médici such as “Apesar de você” (Despite You), which was a huge hit with Brazilian audiences and which would later be censured by the government, and “Cálice” (Chalice). He adopted the pseudonym Julinho da Adelaide to compose others. Julinho da Adelaide not only criticized the military dictatorship but also provided the artist with the means to elude censure; reportedly, the alias acquired a national identification card and even granted press interviews before he was detected. Buarque’s return to Brazil in 1971 represented a new stage in his musical career. During what is considered the most repressive years of the dictatorship, 1969–1974, Buarque released the album Construção (Construction), which marked his break with earlier bossa nova and a new music marked by social and political protest. Earlier rifts with other artists such as Veloso and Gil—both previously exiled in England—subsided, and he would go on to record with both of them during this period. He also penned a popular song, “Meu Caro Amigo” (My Dear Friend), included in the 1976 album Meus Caros Amigos (My Dear Friends), dedicated to the theater director and politician Augusto Boal, who was living in exile after suffering imprisonment and torture by the Brazilian military. While Buarque’s popularity at home and abroad increased, his work was severely censured. One music critic has noted that between 1974 and 1975, the censors approved only a handful of Buarque compositions. Among the works that were censured at the time was the play Calabar o Elogio da Traição (Calabar or In Praise of Treason), written by Buarque in collaboration with Ruy Guerra, to be directed by noted director Fernando Peixoto. The work, set to be the most ambitious production in Brazil at the time, was prohibited by military censors who, reportedly, went as far as to forbid the public mention of the name Calabar (Domingos Fernandes Calabar), an almost legendary smuggler turned senhor de engenho (plantation owner) of Pernambuco, who sided with the Dutch against the Portuguese crown during an attempted invasion by the former in the 17th century. Later dramatic or musical compositions by Buarque would include Ópera do malandro (Scoundrel’s Opera), inspired by John Gay’s Beggar’s Opera and Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s Three-Penny Opera, as well as by exploratory analyses and workshops on both works conducted by several Brazilian intellectuals of the time, in which Buarque participated. Throughout his career, Buarque would also devote himself to writing fiction. He is also the author of several books for children. Several of his works for adults have been popular with Brazilian readers, among them the novel Budapeste, awarded the Premio Jabuti as the Best Book of Fiction of 2004. In addition, he has composed music for the screen, including the soundtrack for the film Dona Flor e seus dois maridos, starring Sonia Braga and based on the novel by the same title by his compatriot Jorge Amado. Chico Buarque lives in Brazil, where he continues to explore different aspects of his artistic trajectory.