Lina Pesce

Origin

São Paulo, SP

Years Active

1928–1980

Genres

choro, waltz, samba-canção, MPB

Instruments

piano, accordion

Biography

Lina Pesce was born in São Paulo on January 26, 1913, standing out throughout her career as an important Brazilian composer and musician. She received her first musical instructions from her father, the Italian maestro Giacomo Pesce, and began her composition career in the late 1920s, ending her creative activities after the death of her husband in 1980. Throughout her life, she produced an extensive catalog with more than two hundred compositions, versatility moving through genres such as waltzes, carnival marches, samba-canções, and especially choros marked by a strong melodic accent from the São Paulo tradition.

The artist gained national and international prominence with works of great repercussion, such as the famous choro "Bem-te-vi atrevido", recorded by various instrumentalists and released abroad, in addition to having compositions integrated into film soundtracks. She married Vicente Vitale in 1933, one of the founders of the Irmãos Vitale publishing house, moving to Rio de Janeiro, where she deepened her theoretical and practical knowledge with names like Tomás Terán and Lorenzo Fernandez. Over the years, her work was interpreted and recorded by great exponents of national music, such as Elizeth Cardoso, Agnaldo Rayol, Altamiro Carrilho, and Sivuca, culminating in important albums dedicated to her repertoire under the direction of arrangers like Radamés Gnattali.

Despite the expressiveness of her work and her admission to the Brazilian Academy of Popular Music, Lina Pesce eventually faced relative oblivion and ostracism in contemporary musical historiography. Researchers like Anna Paes point out that her more reserved posture, in contrast to more ostentatious public figures of her time, and her connection with a major music publishing house may have limited the wide circulation and specialized studies on her legacy. Even so, her contribution to the consolidation of choro and to the female presence in Brazilian instrumental composition remains invaluable, being rescued in phonographic projects dedicated to the women of choro.

Discography

• Valsas Bem Brasileiras (1961)
• Chorinhos Bem Brasileiros (1964)