Niza de Castro Tank, professor at the Institute of Arts (IA) at Unicamp, died this Sunday (24/4), aged 91. The wake was held on Monday (25) at Cemitério da Saudade, in Campinas. The body was then taken to Limeira, Niza's hometown, where he was buried. Tank was the first professor of singing in the IA Department of Music. She has established herself as one of the greatest lyrical singers in the country, with emphasis on her interpretation of the works of Carlos Gomes. Niza Tank formed a generation of musicians and performers with characteristics that became hallmarks of her work: artistic excellence, generosity and joy.
In honor of Niza Tank, TV Unicamp makes available on its YouTube channel the documentary "Joias da Princesa: Niza de Castro Tank", directed by Ariane Porto, professor at IA, and Tereza Aguiar, theater director who passed away in April this year. Produced in 2012, the film had the support of the Campinas Cultural Investment Fund (FICC) and comprised a series of documentaries about important people in the city's history. Check out the video below.
"Niza has always been an inspiring person"
Born in Limeira in 1931, Niza received encouragement for music at home and at school. After moving to Campinas in 1945, she started taking singing lessons. The improvement encouraged her to try to get a contract as a singer at Rádio Gazeta, in the capital of São Paulo. The young woman's talent enchanted the station's professionals, which gave her the start of her career as an opera singer between 1954 and 1960. Her first performance at the Theatro Municipal de São Paulo was in 1957, a feat that placed her in the spotlight of operatic singing. National and international.
"When Niza went on stage, she stole the show. She was small in stature, but immense as an artist. She performed with brilliance and sensitivity. Her singing carried a lot of feeling and was something very artistically cohesive", recalls Adriana Giarola, singing teacher at IA, Niza's student and department colleague.
In 1959, she was the first soprano to record the opera Il Guarany, by Carlos Gomes, playing the character Ceci, in an initiative by conductor Armando Belardi, then artistic director of Rádio Gazeta. Niza's relationship with the composer from Campinas was one of the highlights of her career. In her voice, works such as Il Guarany, Schiavo, Fosca, A Noite do Castelo, Salvador Rosa and Colombo circulated throughout Brazil and other countries.
"Niza was one of the most important light sopranos in Brazil in the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century. In addition to her vast chamber and operatic repertoire, she widely disseminated the music of Carlos Gomes", assesses Angelo Fernandes, singing teacher at IA . Of her work, the book Minhas Pobres Canções also stands out, in which she brings together analyses, scores and recordings of Carlos Gomes' songs. "She leaves a legacy of knowledge to a large number of students, from different generations of singers and singing teachers."
He came to Unicamp at the invitation of maestro Benito Juarez, then director of the IA Music Department. At the time, Niza was about to join as a professor at the University of Brasília (UnB), but with the creation of the singing chair at Unicamp, she chose to stay in the city of Carlos Gomes and be the first professor in the area at the University.
As a teacher, she combined the artistic rigor of the great masters with a lightness and good humor that infected students and colleagues. "Niza had a very responsible spirit, but she was incredibly jovial. In addition to her enthusiasm, a hallmark of her work was joy", comments Paulo Ronqui, director of IA. For him, Niza's pedagogical legacy goes beyond the walls of Unicamp and is present in music schools across the country. "Many of the country's university music professors went to Unicamp and had contact with Niza. Directly or indirectly, she had an impact on the careers of many singers."
Adriana Giarola shares a memory that highlights how contagious Niza Tank's art was: "Once, she participated in a very difficult work, called 'Concerto for Soprano and Orchestra', by Gliere, together with the Campinas Symphony Orchestra. Behind the stage, she was very friendly, talkative, telling jokes. Until one of the musicians asked: 'Niza, aren't you nervous?' She responded with great confidence: 'I rehearsed, I studied, I trust my technique. Why should I be nervous? I want to enjoy the show."
Check out the edition of the program Memória Científica, on TV Unicamp, with Niza Tank:
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