Maria Carta (24 June 1934 – 22 September 1994) was a Sardinian

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

singer-songwriter. She also performed in film and theatre. In 1975 she wrote a book of poetry, ''Canto rituale'' (Ritual Song). Throughout her 25-year career she covered the richly diverse genres of traditional music of her native

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

(

Cantu a chiterra The ''cantu a chiterra'' ( Sardinian for "singing with guitar") is a typical Sardinian form of monophonic singing in Sardinian language and Gallurese, accompanied by a ''chiterra sarda'', or Sardinian guitar. This type of song is particularly preva ...

, ninne nanne—children's lullabies, gosos,

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek (language), Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed ma ...

s, and more), often updating them with a modern and personal touch. She succeeded in bringing Sardinian folk music into wider popular awareness in demonstrations at a national level in Italy (like the

Canzonissima ''Canzonissima'' was an Italian musical variety show broadcast by Rai 1 from 1958 to 1974, aired on Saturday evening except for the last two editions in which it was aired on Sunday afternoon. The program was referred to as "the synthesis and the ...

in 1974) as well as internationally (especially in France and the United States).

Career

Maria Carta won the ''Miss Sardinia'' beauty contest in 1957 and later participated in the national

Miss Italy Miss Italia is a beauty pageant awarding prizes every year to young, female contestants from Italy. Since the first edition of the contest in 1939 many of the contestants have gone on to notable careers in television and film. History The foreru ...

competition. Around 1960, she moved to Rome where she met the screenwriter Salvatore Laurani whom she later married. She attended the

Centro Nazionale di Studi di Musica Popolare The Centro Nazionale di Studi di Musica Popolare (CNSMP; Italian: "National Centre for Folk Music Studies") is a scholarly center for music studies in Italy. It is housed on the premises of the National Academy of Santa Cecilia in Rome. The CNSMP ...

, directed by

Diego Carpitella Diego Carpitella (Reggio di Calabria, 1924 - Rome, 1990) was an Italian professor of ethnomusicology at D'Annunzio University of Chieti–Pescara and La Sapienza University in Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = ...

, at the

National Academy of Santa Cecilia The Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia ( en, National Academy of St Cecilia) is one of the oldest musical institutions in the world, founded by the papal bull ''Ratione congruit'', issued by Sixtus V in 1585, which invoked two saints prom ...

and at the same time she pursued a musical and ethnographic research path with important productions and collaborations. In 1971, she made two albums: ''Sardegna canta'' and ''Paradiso in re'', and in the meantime she attended the ethnomusicologist

Gavino Gabriel Gavino Gabriel ( Tempio Pausania, 1881 – Rome, 1980) was an Italian composer, ethnomusicologist scholar of Sardinian music, especially that of Gallura, and has written and published many essays on the subject. Biography and career In 1905 h ...

. The same year

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

broadcast the television documentary ''Incontro con Maria Carta'' (photography by

Franco Pinna Franco Pinna (1925–1978) was an Italian photographer of the second half of the 20th century and one of the main representatives of neorealism. He developed his work in black and white. Brief history He was born in La Maddalena, on July 29, ...

and texts by Velia Magno), in which she sang and recited with

Riccardo Cucciolla Riccardo Cucciolla (5 September 1924 – 17 September 1999) was an Italian actor and voice actor. He appeared in 60 films between 1953 and 1999. He won the Best Actor Award at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival for the film '' Sacco & Vanzetti' ...

. In 1972, she played at the

Teatro Argentina The Teatro Argentina (directly translating to "Theatre Argentina") is an opera house and theatre located in Largo di Torre Argentina, a square in Rome, Italy. One of the oldest theatres in Rome, it was constructed in 1731 and inaugurated on 31 J ...

in Rome in the ''Medea'' by Franco Enriquez. The same year she met

Amália Rodrigues Amália da Piedade Rebordão Rodrigues GCSE, GCIH (23 July 1920 – 6 October 1999), better known as Amália Rodrigues () or popularly as Amália, was a Portuguese '' fadista'' (fado singer) and actress. Known as the 'Rainha do Fado' ("Queen ...

, with whom she held a concert at the

Teatro Sistina The Teatro Sistina is a theatre in Rome, Italy. The building, designed by Marcello Piacentini, was begun in 1946 on the former site of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Polish Institute. It was inaugurated on 28 December 1949 as a cinema, but later ...

. In 1973, the two artists made a tour in Sardinia. In 1974, she participated in

, interpreting the traditional Sardinian

Ave Maria The Hail Mary ( la, Ave Maria) is a traditional Christian prayer addressing Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the Gospel of Luke: the Angel Gabriel's visit to Mary (the Annunciation) and Mary's ...

Deus ti salvet Maria. She reached the final and was ranked second in the group of folk music with the song ''Amore disisperadu''. In 1975, she held an important concert at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. In 1976, she served as Communal Councilwoman for the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy. The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) ...

, in the city council of Rome and remained in office until 1981. In 1980, she participated in the

Festival d'Avignon The ''Festival d'Avignon'', or Avignon Festival, is an annual arts festival held in the French city of Avignon every summer in July in the courtyard of the Palais des Papes as well as in other locations of the city. Founded in 1947 by Jean Vila ...

; in 1987 she performed in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City; and in 1988 in St. Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco. She caught the attention of such directors as Francis Ford Coppola – who gave her the first of two of her widely-seen film roles as the mother of

Vito Corleone Vito Corleone (born Vito Andolini) is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' and in the first two of Francis Ford Coppola's film trilogy. Vito is originally portrayed by Marlon Brando in the 1972 film ''The Godfathe ...

in ''

The Godfather Part II ''The Godfather Part II'' is a 1974 American epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film is partially based on the 1969 novel ''The Godfather'' by Mario Puzo, who co-wrote the screenplay with Coppola. ''Part II'' s ...

'' (1974) – and

Franco Zeffirelli Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli (12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019), was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post-World War II era, ...

, who cast her as

Martha Martha (Hebrew: מָרְתָא‎) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness ...

, the sister of Lazarus, in '' Jesus of Nazareth'' (1977). In 1985, she was awarded, as songwriter, the ''Targo Tenco'' for dialectal/regional music. In the last years of her life, Carta gave her time to the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...

where she conducted a series of classes and advised student theses on which she had relevant personal, human experience and scholarly background.Paolo Mercurio, ''In memoria di Maria Carta Voce della Sardegna'' (Giornata commemorativa, Milano 16 March 2014), in "BF magazine", n. 143, March 2014 In 1991, the President of Italy, Francesco Cossiga, named her a "

Commendatore della Repubblica The Italian honours system is a means to reward achievements or service to the Italian Republic, formerly the Kingdom of Italy including the Italian Social Republic. Orders of chivalry Italian Republic There are five orders of knighthood ...

" ("Knight of the Republic"), similar to the British CBE.

Death

Maria Carta gave her last concert in

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

, France, on 30 June 1994. Ill with cancer, she died at her home in Rome on 22 September 1994, aged 60.

Discography

*1971: ''Sardegna canta'' *1971: ''Ninna nanna / Muttos de amore'' *1971: ''Adiu a mama / Antoneddu Antoneddu'' *1971: ''Trallallera corsicana / La ragazza moderna'' *1971: ''Paradiso in Re'' *1973: ''Nuovo maggio'' / ''Funerale di un lavoratore'' *1974: ''Dilliriende'' *1974: ''Amore disisperadu / Ave Maria'' *1974: ''Dies Irae'' *1975: ''Diglielo al tuo Dio '' / ''Nuovo maggio'' *1975: ''Maria Carta'' *1976: ''Vi canto una storia assai vera'' *1976: ''La voce e i canti di Maria Carta vol.1'' *1976: ''La voce e i canti di Maria Carta vol. 2'' *1978: '' No potho reposare'' / ''Ballada ogliastrina / Muttettu'' *1978: ''Umbras'' *1980: ''Haidiridiridiridiridinni'' *1984: ''Maria Carta concerto dal vivo '' *1981: ''Sonos ‘e memoria'' *1984: ''Sonos’ e memoria'' *1992: ''Chelu e mare'' *1993: ''Le memorie della musica'' *1993: ''Muttos ‘e amore'' *1993: ''Trallallera'' *2002: ''Sardegna canta'' *2012: ''Il Recital di Maria Carta e Amalia Rodriguez'' with Amália Rodrigues

(live album) Recorded in Rome in 1972.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Sardegna Digital Library – Video with Maria
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carta, Maria 1934 births 1994 deaths Deaths from cancer in Lazio Sardinian women Italian folk singers Music in Sardinia Sardinian literature People from Siligo 20th-century Italian actresses 20th-century Italian women writers 20th-century Italian women singers