Biography
Mário Pinheiro outpaced every contemporary vocalist in album output between 1902 and 1919. Alongside Cadete, Baiano, Nozinho, and Eduardo das Neves, he belonged to the inaugural cohort of full-time recording professionals active in Brazil. He also toured as an opera bass, appearing in the United States and at the Alla Scalla theater in Milano.
Born into modest circumstances, Pinheiro left home at age eight. His first stage appearance came as a clown inside a rundown circus in Piedade, the working-class Rio district, where the audience jeered him. He later turned to singing and cut discs solely for Fred Figner's Casa Edison. Billed simply as "Mário" on those releases, he gained nationwide recognition.
After RCA Victor of America engaged him, Pinheiro lived for a time in the United States before traveling to Italy for vocal studies. He came back to Brazil as a bass soloist with a lyric troupe and joined the opening night of Rio's Teatro Municipal on 27 July 1909, singing the role of Tapir in Delgado de Carvalho's opera Moema. He portrayed Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto on repeated occasions and Colline in Puccini's La Bohème. In 1909 he shared the stage with celebrated soprano Zola Amaro in Carlos Gomes's Condor.
His best-known recordings include the canção "Ai, Maria" (E. di Capua, version by Russo), the desafio "Ao Som da Viola," the tango "O Boêmio" (Anacleto de Medeiros/Catulo da Paixão Cearense), the canção "A Brisa Dizia à Rosa," the duet "Canção Mineira," the modinha "A Casa Branca da Serra" (Miguel Egídio Pestana/Guimarães Passos), and numerous additional titles.
Born into modest circumstances, Pinheiro left home at age eight. His first stage appearance came as a clown inside a rundown circus in Piedade, the working-class Rio district, where the audience jeered him. He later turned to singing and cut discs solely for Fred Figner's Casa Edison. Billed simply as "Mário" on those releases, he gained nationwide recognition.
After RCA Victor of America engaged him, Pinheiro lived for a time in the United States before traveling to Italy for vocal studies. He came back to Brazil as a bass soloist with a lyric troupe and joined the opening night of Rio's Teatro Municipal on 27 July 1909, singing the role of Tapir in Delgado de Carvalho's opera Moema. He portrayed Sparafucile in Verdi's Rigoletto on repeated occasions and Colline in Puccini's La Bohème. In 1909 he shared the stage with celebrated soprano Zola Amaro in Carlos Gomes's Condor.
His best-known recordings include the canção "Ai, Maria" (E. di Capua, version by Russo), the desafio "Ao Som da Viola," the tango "O Boêmio" (Anacleto de Medeiros/Catulo da Paixão Cearense), the canção "A Brisa Dizia à Rosa," the duet "Canção Mineira," the modinha "A Casa Branca da Serra" (Miguel Egídio Pestana/Guimarães Passos), and numerous additional titles.