' (Orpheus of the Conception) is a stage play with music in three acts by

Vinicius de Moraes Marcus Vinícius da Cruz e Mello Moraes (19 October 1913 – 9 July 1980), better known as Vinícius de Moraes () and nicknamed "O Poetinha" ("The Little Poet"), was a Brazilian poet, diplomat, lyricist, essayist, musician, singer, and playwrig ...

and music by

Antônio Carlos Jobim Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (25 January 1927 – 8 December 1994), also known as Tom Jobim (), was a Brazilian composer, pianist, guitarist, songwriter, arranger, and singer. Considered as one of the great exponents of Brazilian ...

that premiered in 1956 in Rio de Janeiro. The play became the basis for the films ''Orfeu Negro'' ('' Black Orpheus'', 1959) and '' Orfeu'' (1999), and for the musicals ''Orfeu'' (Brazil, 2010) and ''Black Orpheus'' (Broadway, 2014). The play sets the

Greek myth Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories concern the ancien ...

Orpheus and Eurydice In Greek mythology, the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice () concerns the pitiful love of Orpheus of Thrace, located in northeastern Greece, for the beautiful Eurydice. Orpheus was the son of Oeagrus and the Muse Calliope. It may be a late addition ...

in a contemporary

favela Favela () is an umbrella name for several types of impoverished neighborhoods in Brazil. The term, which means slum or ghetto, was first used in the Slum of Providência in the center of Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century, which was b ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

during the

Brazilian Carnival The Carnival of Brazil (, ) is an annual festival held the Friday afternoon before Ash Wednesday at noon, which marks the beginning of Lent, the forty-day period before Easter. During Lent, Roman Catholics and some other Christians traditionally ...

. Started in 1954, the play was first performed on 25 September 1956 at the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro. Vinicius de Moraes assembled major names of Brazilian culture to participate in the production.

co-wrote the songs and conducted the orchestra,

Luiz Bonfá Luiz Floriano Bonfá (17 October 1922 – 12 January 2001) was a Brazilian guitarist and composer. He was best known for the music he composed for the film '' Black Orpheus''. Biography Luiz Floriano Bonfá was born on October 17, 1922, in Ri ...

performed on guitar,

Oscar Niemeyer Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (15 December 1907 – 5 December 2012), known as Oscar Niemeyer (), was a Brazilian architect considered to be one of the key figures in the development of modern architecture. Niemeyer was b ...

did the stage design, Djanira and Carlos Scliar designed the posters, and

Abdias do Nascimento Abdias do Nascimento (March 14, 1914 – May 23, 2011) was a prominent African Brazilian scholar, artist, and politician. Also a poet, dramatist, and Pan-African activist, Nascimento created the Black Experimental Theater (1944) and the Black Ar ...

performed in the original cast and provided other actors from his . Songs to the play were released on an Odeon-EMI LP (MODB 3.056) in the year of the play's premiere.

Album

The soundtrack was released as an LP by Odeon. It is considered the first album of songs by the duo

and

; the two wrote the seven compositions of this LP for the play. The music was orchestrated and conducted by Jobim, who directed , a 35-piece orchestra. The album also has

on guitar and Roberto Paiva singing "", "", "", "", "." Vinicius de Moraes recites and dramatizes the monolog of Orpheus. The album was recorded in

high fidelity High fidelity (hi-fi or, rarely, HiFi) is the high-quality reproduction of sound. It is popular with audiophiles and home audio enthusiasts. Ideally, high-fidelity equipment has inaudible noise and distortion, and a flat (neutral, uncolored) ...

and released as a 10" LP with cover art by Raimundo Nogueira.

Track listing

# Overture – 06:45 # Monólogo de Orfeu – 02:52 # Um nome de mulher – 02:05 # Se todos fossem iguais a você – 03:31 # Mulher, sempre mulher – 01:56 # Eu e o meu amor – 01:41 # Lamento no morro – 02:06

Notes and references

Notes ''References

External links

''Orfeu da Conceição'', Tragédia carioca em três atos
tragedy from Rio de Janeiro in three acts text (in Portuguese) 1956 plays Tragedy plays Brazilian plays Plays set in Brazil Plays set in the 1950s Brazilian plays adapted into films Portuguese-language works Plays about Orpheus Works set in slums {{Brazil-lit-stub