Unicamp
Journal of Unicamp
Download PDF version Campinas, October 15, 2012 to October 21, 2012 – YEAR 2012 – No. 542Niza Tank
can't resist
call of music
The trajectory of one of the most important sopranos in the country and former professor at Unicamp
Aroma of homemade food, plants in the backyard, birds playing a small aria, in perfect tune, according to the master's sung request. So soprano Niza de Castro Tank wants a life off the stage. Simple. But whenever the music calls, she locks the door from the outside and goes to sing. At home, however, busy with her tasks, she prefers not to sing. “It came out wrong,” jokes the 80-year-old woman, recognized as one of the most important Brazilian sopranos. She has a library of operas in her head, according to her friend Sarah Lopes' testimony in the documentary The Princess's Jewels: Niza de Castro Tank, directed by Teresa Aguiar and Ariane Porto.
Niza was born into a family where musical education was almost a requirement. As a child, he listened to music, especially classical. He especially appreciated Mozart and Bach. But to reach the status of a music professional, she explored the quality of defying obstacles. And what would victory taste like without challenges? The first of them was the one that revealed her as a singer. During a piano class at Colégio São José, in Limeira, her teacher, a nun who had been a student of Fritz Jank, asked her to sing an excerpt from a Bach piece to help with her piano performance. Surprised by the student's vocal quality and tuning, the nun told Nadir, Niza's older sister: “The piano will be very useful for your sister's music studies, but she won't be a pianist, she'll be a singer.”
Pleased with the teacher's words, Niza was happy when, upon arriving in Campinas, where the entire family moved in 1945, her father, a civil servant at the Treasury Department, told her that he would find her a singing teacher. Likewise, in the feminine: prof-fes-so-ra, emphasizes Niza. “But who said that, at that time, I could find a teacher?” To her delight, she found Silvio Bueno Teixeira, the only singing teacher in her life.
Demanding, the master did not venture a promising guess about young Niza's desire to work at Rádio Gazeta, saying that she would not be a professional singer. But always willing to face challenges, as previously written, she traveled to the capital of São Paulo, more precisely to the Gazeta studios and, despite not arriving on a day set aside for a test presentation, she strategically convinced the maestro to listen to her . “I said I wasn’t looking for a test, but rather a competent conductor’s opinion on my potential,” she recalls. She returned to Campinas with a signed contract.
The wide smile gradually closed when, upon arriving home, he announced his hiring to his family. The reprehensible look of that serious man, of German descent, left his daughter frightened for a moment. The words are stored in Niza's heart to this day, who jokes: “He told me: 'My daughter doesn't have an artistic career'.” But soon, she was able to celebrate her mother's words: “Do you forget that you are mine too? My daughter pursues an artistic career.”
Classes with Silvio didn't last long, as the singer had to move to São Paulo. Her predictions also didn't even come close to what Niza's future would be. But the singer recognizes: “Samuel was very important in my life. He was demanding as a singing teacher should be”, she highlights.
From the opera, he only knew excerpts, which he found beautiful, but he had no inclination towards this repertoire from the beginning, however, he was not inhibited by the complex repertoire of the opera. Radio Gazeta. Certain that she would face this challenge, she did her best and, from 1954 to 1960, shone on the radio singing opera arias. Her performance led to her first performance at the Municipal Theater of São Paulo, in 1957.
But a bigger challenge than his, in his opinion, was the courage of conductor Armando Belardi to record the complete opera Il Guarany, composed by another jewel of the Princess, Antônio Carlos Gomes. The production made Niza known as the first soprano to record Ceci, the Indian Peri's girlfriend in the Campinas composer's opera. “One of the moments that most marked my life, as it was a very complex production, as it dealt with indigenous tribes, a Portuguese nobleman and many more characters in the cast”, explains Niza. But the moment that makes the singer's eyes water is the release of the album. “Il Guarany has always been present in my life. That whole movement of Belardi choosing the cast, organizing the staging is still preserved today.”, reinforces the singer. “And when it was ready, we went to Italy with Il Guarany. It was also important for employing and satisfying a lot of people,” he says.
Il Guarany, Schiavo, Fosca, The Night at the Castle, Salvador Rosa, Columbo. When reporting some details of these operas, whether in the documentary or in the interview, Niza thanks the composer and conductor Carlos Gomes and apologizes, on behalf of the Campinas people, for the bush that covers part of his tomb, in the center of Campinas. From Carlos Gomes, Niza has already lent almost everything to his corner. Some of his songs, lost for a while, are now recorded in the soprano's voice on a CD. The set of 40 songs is organized in a book, the result of his doctoral thesis, defended at Unicamp when Niza was already a professor in the Department of Music at the University's Institute of Arts. In the thesis, she analyzed each of them.
The staging of operas in Brazil depends on the strength of public authorities. Outside Brazil, they were insistently assembled, according to Niza, “however, what is done here, in the soil where this master was born, is beautiful, but it is shy, simple”. Through the action of the Center for Sciences, Letters and Arts (CCLA) and other social sectors in Campinas, Semana Carlos Gomes is still able to organize competitions, in which many musicians were revealed. But operas are expensive and difficult to put together, according to Niza, which is why they would need funding.
When Unicamp created the singing chair in the Department of Music, Niza had the documentation organized to take up the teaching position at the University of Brasília, but gave up on the idea when she received the invitation from the maestro, then director of DM, Benito Juarez. “I packed things the next day,” she emphasizes. A gift for the administrative area of the University and the professionals at the Institute of Geosciences, as these were the first DM installations, from where the first notes sounded by soprano Niza Tank at Unicamp could be heard. Sometimes, due to lack of physical space, classes took place outdoors to the delight of the university community.
“Here [at Unicamp], I worked with very competent professionals and I still have the opportunity to work with talented students and attend their concerts. I miss Unicamp, my students, my work and my friends. I worked with very good people, starting with directors Benito Juarez, José Antônio Rezende de Almeida Prado, Antonio Lauro Del Claro, Helena Jank, among others.” But Niza makes a point of mentioning the event in which she celebrated 40 years of friendship with professor from the Department of Performing Arts at Unicamp Sarah Lopes.
Little by little, with academic revisions, the list of students increased in Niza's life, in addition to those she kept outside the University, at times contrary to the academic day. According to Niza, the students are her children, since life did not give her biological ones. She also fulfills herself as a mother in her relationship with Raquel, her secretary, “she is like my daughter, and her son calls me grandmother.” The pride in preparing musicians for the world is reflected in Niza's eyes and “wistful” smile when mentioning some names. “It’s beautiful to train a student and make them enter the world they’ve always dreamed of, whether it’s leading a musical, an orchestra, taking on public roles or even directing their former teacher.”
Niza's song crossed oceans. The seasons, remembered with fond nostalgia, not pain, as she says, were important not only for recognition, but for professional growth. In this trajectory of more than 50 years, she sang in theaters in Israel, Russia, Germany, Italy, Uruguay, among others. Among the operas in which she participated are Lucia of Lammermoor, by Donizetti; Rigoletto, by Verdi; the magic flute, by Mozart. “We just received a recording from Germany of Salvador Rosa and, to my pride, the tenor is black”, celebrates Niza, who says she admires the timbre of black singers. Despite enjoying talking about international experiences, she claims that it never crossed her mind to leave Brazil.
Recognition as one of the best Brazilian sopranos was achieved over time and, for Niza, it is independent of the professional's desire. “It comes with your career, with your temperament. There are people who have a lot of quality, talent, posture, voice, but they have a horrible genius. I think I have a good temper. All of this helped, it’s part of my constitution as an artist”, she reveals.
When your selection for Radio Gazeta and, a little later, her participation in several opera productions gained pages in newspapers in the region, her compatriots from Limeira questioned the fact that she was called a “campinas singer”. But the “Princess of the West” quickly granted her the title of citizen of Campinas. And he ended the matter before it even took shape. Today, she is part of the Princess Jewels by adoption.
In this condition, you are allowed to make a final comment on your profile. “Access to classical music has increased in recent years, as some myths, in my opinion unfriendly, have ceased to exist, such as prohibiting the entry of men without suits and ties. Other innovations that attract society to concerts are the introduction of subtitles for texts in a foreign language and the lack of rigor in the costumes of the characters and the scenery. This modernization, without exaggeration, can bring opera closer to society. But we can't say that about Campinas, as we don't have a theater. Only I opened Castro Mendes twice. And I hope I have time to see the third one.”
Comments
Niza Tank
This report with Profa is really cool. Niza Tank remembering her life journey. In my memories of the years I worked on the IA Board - in the 90s - the image always comes to mind of a strong, vibrant, smiling, happy woman... who every now and then arrived and was already singing some part of a composition. of your choice with its very well-tuned treble.
I would really like to see her perform alongside the Unicamp Symphony Orchestra, where I am currently working.
Congratulations Prof. Niza for her eighty years of life, well lived.
Myrcia
matter
It really is an immense pleasure to live with Niza and especially to have her in this family life; she truly has a life of great musical pleasures.
Congratulations Maria Alice for the article, you managed to show us in essence who Niza de Castro Tank is.
Niza Tank
I feel proud to have known her as a professor at the Music Department and to have had the opportunity to see her perform in "O Guarani". Wonderful show that made me appreciate operas.
It's a shame to have missed the presentation of the documentary on the occasions it was shown at Unicamp. I hope to have new opportunities.
Great report. Congratulations Prof. Niza!
Cidinha Dorigon (former secretary of the Grad. Music Coordination)
two excellent professionals
It’s impossible not to have a great report. I learned to admire the singer Niza Tank through my mother's love for her (who met her in a single singing class) and then I had the honor of spending a little time with her here at IA. Having a little piece of Niza translated into words by Alice Cruz is wonderful. Two very talented professionals. Thanks for the opportunity.