Elizeth Cardoso

Elizeth Cardoso (or Elizete Cardoso, as was her stage name when recorded the original LPs in question) is a fundamental Brazilian singer. Appropriately known as "the Divine," her voice was responsible for the "official" debut of the bossa nova movement on her 1958 album Canção Do Amor Demais, entirely dedicated to Jobim/Vinícius de Moraes tunes and having João Gilberto as her accompanist. The LPs reissued on this CD are 1957's Noturno and Grandes Momentos, the latter being a compilation of her successes, both released through Copacabana.

In the end of 1998, EMI bought Copacabana's complete collection. Along with other interpreters reissued in this series, Dois Em Um by EMI, Elizeth certainly deserves more. The booklet is incredibly poor and has no information besides the songs' titles and composers.

But being Brazil, a country where the memory of great artists is rarely preserved, you have to celebrate even the faintest initiatives in this sense. The album Noturno is a killer, and since long out of print, it can be found in used records stores occasionally, at the price of an eye and an arm. It is nice to put it in the reach of a major audience again.

Together with classics by Noel Rosa, Ary Barroso, Custódio Mesquita, and Tom/Vinícius, the album has superb orchestral arrangements, properly and deliciously dated as one should expect, fitting perfectly with the crystal-clear, warm voice of the Divina.

Grandes Momentos also brings the same orchestral setup and a less famous team of composers, with the exception of José Maria de Abreu/Jair Amorim. Nevertheless, its songs are also all-time classics in Brazil. Great moments really, a great moment for the samba-canção. ~ Alvaro Neder, Rovi