Biography
Together with Beth Carvalho and Alcione, Clara Nunes earned recognition during her lifetime as one of the three Queens of Samba. Enormous popularity attended her renditions of hill-composer sambas such as "Juízo Final" (Nelson Cavaquinho/Élcio Soares) and "Coração Leviano" (Paulinho da Viola), alongside pieces tied to her Candomblé faith. Her sixteen solo albums yielded an array of signature recordings, among them "Você Passa E Eu Acho Graça" (Ataulfo Alves/Carlos Imperial), "Ê Baiana," "A Deusa Dos Orixás," "Macunaíma," "O Mar Serenou" (Candeia), "As Forças Da Natureza" (João Nogueira/Paulo César Pinheiro), "Guerreira," "Feira de Mangaio" (Sivuca/Glorinha Gadelha), "Portela Na Avenida" (Mauro Duarte/Paulo César Pinheiro), and "Nação" (João Bosco/Aldir Blanc). Orphaned early, she endured factory labor amid hardship and scarcity. In 1960 she captured the Minas Gerais portion of the national contest A Voz de Ouro ABC and placed third overall in the final. Radio employment soon followed, bringing her own program on TV Itacolomi in Minas Gerais; nightclub appearances earned her three designations as singer of the year. Relocating to Rio in 1965, she joined TV Continental. The debut album, A Voz Adorável de Clara Nunes, appeared the next year and featured boleros together with sambas-canção; only with the 1968 release of her first hit, "Você Passa E Eu Acho Graça" (Ataulfo Alves/Carlos Imperial), did she commit fully to samba. Further acclaim arrived in 1970 via "É Baiana" (Fabrício da Silva/Baianinho/Ênio Santos Ribeiro/Miguel Pancrácio) and the Portela samba-enredo "Ilu Ayê" (Norival Reis/Silvestre Davi da Silva). Her inaugural stage production, Sabiá Sabiô, opened in 1972, the same year "Tristeza Pé No Chão" (Armando Fernandes) surpassed 100,000 copies. In 1973, accompanied by Vinícius de Moraes and Toquinho, she launched O Poeta, A Moça e O Violão in Salvador; that year also brought a Lisbon engagement, followed in 1974 by an appearance at MIDEM in Cannes. The LP Alvorecer, issued in 1974, contained the successes "Conto de Areia" (Romildo/Toninho), "Menino de Deus" (Mauro Duarte/Paulo César Pinheiro), and "Meu Sapato Já Furou" (Elton Medeiros/Mauro Duarte); its 300,000 units sold helped clear paths for later female interpreters including Alcione and Beth Carvalho. European dates occupied much of 1975, the year she issued her peak commercial achievement, Claridade, which was soon joined by the equally strong Canto Das Três Raças. Another major success emerged in 1980 with "Morena de Angola," a Chico Buarque composition written expressly for her. She succumbed during a disputed varicose-vein operation, an event that stirred widespread dismay.
Albums
