Antonio Carlos Barbosa-Lima
Antonio Carlos Barbosa-Lima
Antonio Carlos Barbosa-Lima
Nascido na cidade de São Paulo onde iniciou seus estudos de violão aos sete anos.
Debutou em concerto aos doze no Teatro Municipal de São Paulo, quando também
gravou seu primeiro disco LP, Dez Dedos Mágicos (1958). Foi discípulo de Isaias Savio e
Andrés Segovia. Diversos compositores dedicaram-lhe composições para violão, dentre
os quais destacamos: Francisco Mignone, Guido Santorsola, Ernesto Cordeiro, Bobby
Scott, Byron Yasui e Alberto Ginastera, que lhe dedicou a Sonata op.47, uma das obras
mais importantes compostas para violão na segunda metade do século XX.
Aclamado pela crítica musical como um dos grandes Mestres do Violão do mundo, artista
da gravadora Zoho Music (New York), e com carreira internacional de sucesso, há mais
de 50 anos, Carlos Barbosa-Lima é hoje reconhecido mundialmente tanto por sua
extrema sensibilidade e virtuosismo no instrumento como pelo seu trabalho de
arranjador de uma grande variedade de obras de estilos diversos para violão.
Antonio Carlos Ribeiro Barbosa Lima (born 17 December 1944) is an acclaimed Brazilian
virtuoso guitarist, arranger and professor born in São Paulo. He has spent most of his
professional life as a resident in the United States, devoting much of his time as a recitalist
on international concert tours. He regularly appears as a soloist with numerous major
orchestras.
Early development
Born on 17 December 1944 in São Paulo, Brazil, Barbosa-Lima grew up in the Brooklyn
district of the city. He states that he began playing the guitar aged seven.
Barbosa-Lima recalls that his father, Manuel Carlos, had hired a music instructor to teach
him how to play the guitar. The guitar lessons were then transferred from the father to
the son, and the child became known in the neighborhood as a prodigy. After two years
of lessons with Benedito Moreira, the young man was introduced to Brazilian guitarist
composer Luiz Bonfá, at the time one of the leading musicians in the field. Under the
strong recommendation of Bonfá, the young Carlos was directed to the father of the
classical guitar school of Brasil, Isaias Savio. At the behest of family friends and musical
acquaintances, and with the firm support of his parents, the young Carlos publicly
debuted at a solo concert hall appearance (in São Paulo) in November, 1957, when he
was twelve years old.
The immediate rave reviews and enthusiastic public acclaim led to a subsequent
invitation for the young guitarist to make his concert debut in Rio de Janeiro, at the time
capital of Brazil, preceded by his television debut on a variety style TV show that featured
young, up and coming Artists. This was March 1958, Barbosa-Lima was thirteen. These
two public appearances led to a recording contract with the then up and coming
Chantecler label, initially part of the RCA Brasil group. The LP recording, called "Dez Dedos
Magicos Num Violão De Ouro" was released in June 1958, when he was 13 years old.
In 1960 Barbosa-Lima began life on the road, which continues extensively till this day.
Trips to Montevideo, Uruguay, and eastern Brazil became common place. In 1967 at the
age of 23, Barbosa-Lima made his American debut in Washington, D.C. Excellent reviews
followed and Barbosa-Lima's concert career expanded across the United States, Central
and South America. Barbosa-Lima was now making his own arrangements for guitar and
in 1964 he released an album of arrangements by the popular Brazilian songwriter,
Catullo. Close friends of Barbosa-Lima at the time heard these arrangements and
encouraged the guitarist to continue on the path of arranging for the guitar.
Professional life
In 1967 Barbosa-Lima gave his New York debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall (then
known as Carnegie Recital Hall). This concert was met once again with excellent reviews
and truly launched the career of the young guitarist onto the global concert stage where
he remains to this day. 1968 marked the year that Barbosa-Lima would travel to Madrid,
Spain, to play for Andrés Segovia. Upon his return from Spain in 1970 Barbosa-Lima gave
a concert in New York's Town Hall. At the conclusion of this concert Barbosa-Lima was
approached by Harold Shaw and Shaw Concerts who offered Barbosa-Lima a steady
stream of concert dates within the United States. With the heavy concert schedule and
Master classes now available to him through Shaw Concerts Barbosa-Lima took a teaching
position at Carnegie Mellon University (1974–1978). It was during this time that Barbosa-
Lima's reputation as a world class guitarist began to blossom and composers began
writing works for him. One very important composer of this time was Alberto Ginastera
who composed the Sonata for guitar, op. 47 for Barbosa-Lima.The later end of the decade
(1977) saw Barbosa-Lima perform Francisco Mignone's Concerto for Guitar and
Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
As the 1980s began Barbosa-Lima moved to New York City (1981) and took a teaching
post at the Manhattan School of Music. Once in New York Barbosa-Lima began to perform
with Jazz guitarist Charlie Byrd. Upon hearing Barbosa-Lima's arrangements Mr. Byrd
immediately arranged for Barbosa-Lima to meet and perform for Carl Jefferson (the
owner of Concord records). Carl Jefferson signed Barbosa-Lima and eleven recordings
were to follow on the Concord Jazz label. In 1982 Barbosa-Lima made frequent contact
with fellow Brazilian, Antônio Carlos Jobim, one of the world's most popular composers
of all time. Barbosa-Lima would often meet him at Jobim's upper east side apartment in
New York City for impromptu jam sessions. It was out of these sessions that came the
recording Carlos Barbosa-Lima plays Music by Antônio Carlos Jobim and George Gershwin
a crossover CD before the word was popular.Jobim was immediately impressed with
Barbosa-Lima's arranging technique for guitar which Barbosa-Lima describes as "multi-
linear" basically meaning several voices moving at once like classical guitar technique. At
the time of their meetings Jobim was more familiar with the Brazilian guitar technique
which utilized a "block chord" technique as Jobim himself used. "...Barbosa-Lima brings
an ear attuned to counterpoint and technique that gives each independent line its own
voice. His transcriptions find and define every moving part, in bossa novas and
countermelodies together as he does in Gershwin, he sounds like a team of guitarists".
And in keeping with Barbosa-Lima's multi-linear technique the Cuban composer Leo
Brouwer, who has long been a personal friend of his, has said; "...when unknowingly I
[Brouwer] walked by a hotel room and heard guitar music I thought I was listening to a
guitar duo and then suddenly recognized the music and realized it was Barbosa-Lima
playing solo. If I weren't a guitar player and guitar composer who noticed a mistake by
one of the violinists during a rehearsal of a seventy-member orchestra my confusion
could be justified. I believe that Carlos Barbosa-Lima is a genius of transcriptions of Latin
American music for guitar."
Currently Barbosa-Lima records for the Zoho music record label and has released five
recordings under this label and the direction of Barbosa-Lima's recordings as well as his
concert programing have a definite Latin American concept. In April, 2010 Barbosa-Lima
celebrated the release of his fiftieth recording release, Merengue (Zoho Music, CD
200911) at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.
Discography