Arnaldo Estrella

Origin

Rio de Janeiro, RJ

Also known as

Arnaldo de Azevedo Estrella

Years Active

1935–1980

Genres

erudite music, classical music

Instruments

piano

Biography

Arnaldo de Azevedo Estrella was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1908 and stood out as one of the great Brazilian pianists of his generation. He pursued his studies at the National School of Music in Rio de Janeiro, having as mentors important figures such as Joaquim Antonio Barroso Neto, Oscar Lorenzo Fernández, and Tomás Terán. Throughout his career, he began touring in 1935 and expanded his work internationally in the following decades, performing in countries in the United States, Europe, and the socialist bloc.

The pianist maintained a remarkable and lasting partnership with Heitor Villa-Lobos, becoming the first interpreter of several compositions by the celebrated maestro, such as the piano cycle Hommage à Chopin and the Piano Concerto No. 3. In addition to his intense stage activity, Estrella dedicated himself to writing and teaching, working as a professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, where he mentored talents such as Arnaldo Cohen, Vera Astrachan, and Jean Louis Steuerman. He was also married to violinist Mariuccia Iacovino, with whom he shared the stage on various occasions, until his passing in Petrópolis in the year 1980.

Discography

• Francisco Mignone, Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira, Arnaldo Estrela – Concerto para Piano e Orquestra / Sinfonia Tropical (1962)
• Villa-Lobos - Arnaldo Estrêla, Mariuccia Iacovino – Villa-Lobos: Sonatas (1967)
• Antologia da Música Erudita Brasileira Volume I - Sinópse (1968)
• Antologia da Música Brasileira Vol. II (1969)
• Personalidades Vol. 9 (1976)
• Leopoldo Miguez, Mariuccia Iacovino, Arnaldo Estrella – Sonata Opus 14 em Lá Maior para Violino & Piano (1988)
• Leopoldo Miguez, Mariuccia Iacovino, Arnaldo Estrella – Sonata Opus 14 em Lá Maior (1998)
• Grandes Pianistas Brasileiros - Arnaldo Estrella (2000)
• O Piano de Villa-Lobos
• Francisco Mignone, Arnaldo Estrella – Mignone e Orquestra II