Altamiro Carrilho

Altamiro Carrilho ranks among the foremost choro flutists in history, uniting technical mastery with a fluid gift for improvisation that, across a professional career spanning fifty-eight years by 2001 and more than 110 albums, earned acclaim from leading figures in both classical and popular music while securing a lasting public following. He became known for weaving fragments of classical repertoire into choro and the reverse, a practice illustrated when he inserted such material into the cadenza of Mozart’s Concerto #2 in D Major KV 314 with the Orquestra Sinfônica de Porto Alegre in 1976. In supporting roles he backed Orlando Silva, Vicente Celestino, Elizeth Cardoso, Moreira da Silva, Francisco Alves, Sílvio Caldas, Caetano Veloso, and Chico Buarque, among many others. His 1956 maxixe “Rio Antigo” moved 960,000 copies inside six months and established him nationwide. He hosted the popular television program Em Tempo de Música and performed internationally, receiving praise from conductor Boris Trisno as one of the world’s finest soloists. As a classical recitalist he took the principal flute part in Mozart’s Concerto in G at the Teatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro in 1972. The album Clássicos em Choro received the Villa-Lobos trophy for Best Instrumental Album, while Clássicos em Choro No. 2 earned gold-record status. In 1993 he won the Prêmio Sharp for Best Arranger of Instrumental Music for Altamiro Carrilho -- 50 Anos de Choro, and in 1997 he received the same award again for Best Instrumental Album with Flauta Maravilhosa.

Four generations of musicians and conductors preceded him, so Carrilho’s decision to take up the flute at age five followed naturally. He began working at nine after his father fell ill, yet continued his musical studies in the evenings. At eleven he entered the Banda Lira de Arion on snare drum. When he turned sixteen he relocated to Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, and became a familiar presence on radio programs led by Dante Santoro and Benedito Lacerda; during the same period he captured first place in Ary Barroso’s novice competition. His improvisational fluency soon brought offers to join ensembles directed by César Moreno, Canhoto, and Rogério Guimarães. He made his first recording in 1943 on a Moreira da Silva album. Six years later he issued his debut solo disc, featuring his own choro “Flauteando na Chacrinha.” In 1950 he assembled his regional ensemble for a residency at Rádio Guanabara. The following May he replaced Benedito Lacerda in the Regional do Canhoto. At Rádio Mayrink Veiga the group accompanied major artists of the era, among them Orlando Silva, Vicente Celestino, Moreira da Silva, Francisco Alves, and Sílvio Caldas. He launched the Bandinha de Altamiro Carrilho in 1955 and attained national recognition the next year with “Rio Antigo.” Through the TV Tupi series Em Tempo de Música he and his Bandinha drew large audiences for two years. Carlos Poyares succeeded him in the Regional do Canhoto in 1957. Between 1963 and 1969 he undertook extensive foreign tours that included Spain, Portugal, France, England—where he taped programs for the BBC and NBC—Germany, Lebanon, Egypt, and the former U.S.S.R., the last destination featuring a three-month engagement during which Trisno again hailed him as one of the world’s greatest soloists. Carrilho has continued performing and recording, and in 1998 President Fernando Henrique Cardoso decorated him for his contributions to the nation.