Simone Bittencourt de Oliveira - Repertoire

Repertoire

In the history of MPB the tradition of romanticism was overly intensified during the 1980s and the themes of romantic love, passion, were thoroughly explored by singers and composers. Simone, whose repertoire has been predominantly romantic since the beginning of her career, is one of them, and she is for this reason categorized as a romantic singer. Her repertoire includes some 350 interpretations, one of the largest and most diversified among Brazilian female singers. The themes of romantic love, passion (Começar de Novo, Jura Secreta, Corpo, Medo de Amar nº2, Raios de luz, Lenha), samba (O Amanhã, To Voltando, Disputa de Poder, Ex-amor), and religious songs (Cantos de Maculelê, Reis e rainhas do Maracatu, Então é Natal, Ave Maria, Jesus Cristo), are the most frequent on her work.

During her childhood and teenage years, the main influences on this romantic repertoire were Roberto Carlos, Maysa Matarazzo, of whom she is a great fan and who has a great influence on her work, Dolores Duran, Ângela Maria, Nora Ney -- the most relevant names of the samba-canção or fossa (gloom) genre. Often compared to bolero, for the featured exaltation and exploration of romantic love or the suffering of a non accomplished love affair was also called "elbow ache" (jealousy, heart ache). Samba-canção preceded the bossa nova music style, with which Maysa was associated. But this one, inheritor of the American jazz, presented more refined, gentle, soft melodies and interpretations, rather than the more bitter or melancholic ones. Maysa's legacy, although it points to a bossa nova bias, is that of a more dramatic singer and it would be more properly linked to the bolero and samba-canção rhythm. Simone's manifested fondness for boleros results from this musical heritage.

Among her albums recorded after the 1980s, a period regarded as a more popular one, those that stand out include Simone Bittencourt de Oliveira (1995), featuring ballads among other classic and consecrated samba composers; Café com leite (1996), a tribute to Martinho da Vila; Seda pura, an incursion into pop (2001) and Baiana da gema, a tribute to Ivan Lins (2004)--works regarded as a reunion of a more refined repertoire and more selective arrangements. Probably most renowned among these is Café com leite, in which she notably interprets Martinho da Vila's sambas. Singer and composer Caetano Veloso publicly offered his admiration for this album: Simone's album of Martinho da Vila's compositions, I find divine, divine and yet it went unheralded... The press acted as if it was nothing special. It is divine. His repertoire fits her very well—that album is the kind I like to listen to at home, alone, together with my favourites. She gave clarity to those compositions, it is beautiful. And it was a project conceived as the recording of a singer perfectly suited to interpret a composer, I don't know how it came to be, but it is beautiful, it is a wonderful result. And she is a great singer, very good, I adore her. A very beautiful voice which makes one feels good.

As an interpreter of others' compositions, Simone has foregrounded Ivan Lins, Vitor Martins, Milton Nascimento, Fernando Brant, Paulo César Pinheiro, Gonzaguinha, Chico Buarque, Martinho da Vila, Fátima Guedes, João Bosco, Aldir Blanc, Isolda, Roberto Carlos, Hermínio Bello de Carvalho, Paulinho da Viola, Sueli Costa e Abel Silva. Her current repertoire includes Zélia Duncan, Cássia Eller, Adriana Calcanhotto, Aldir Blanc, Joyce, Martinho da Vila, Paulinho da Viola and Zeca Pagodinho.