Gastão Formenti

Origin

Guaratinguetá, SP

Years active

1927–1959

Genres

música popular brasileira, tango sertanejo, cateretê

Instruments

voz

Biography

Gastão Formenti was one of the pioneers of the golden age of radio and Brazilian popular music, standing out not only as a singer, but also as a visual artist, painter, and stained-glass artist. Born in Guaratinguetá and raised in Rio de Janeiro, he began his artistic journey under his father's tutelage in painting, before being encouraged by writer Gastão Penalva to debut on the microphones of Rádio Sociedade do Rio de Janeiro in 1927. Throughout his musical career, he recorded remarkable works of sertanejo and popular music of the time, solidifying partnerships with important composers and actively participating in the technological transition to electrical recordings in the country.

In his phonographic trajectory, Formenti joined the catalog of major record labels such as Odeon, Parlophon, and Victor, achieving great popularity with unforgettable hits. Among his most celebrated recordings are the song "Casa de Caboclo", by Hekel Tavares and Luís Peixoto, and especially "Maringá", composed by Joubert de Carvalho, whose enormous success later gave its name to the Paraná city. In addition to his musical relevance, sharing with Carmen Miranda the milestone of signing a pioneering contract with Rádio Mayrink Veiga in 1930, he maintained a solid parallel career as a landscape painter and stained-glass artist, with his visual works praised by leading figures of national culture such as Monteiro Lobato.