Morella Muñoz
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Morella Muñoz | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | July 29, 1935 Caracas, Venezuela |
| Died | July 15, 1995 (aged 59) Caracas, Venezuela |
| Genre(s) | Venezuelan folk music, Classical Music |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer |
| Associated acts | Quinteto Contrapunto |
| Website | Morella Muñoz Foundation |
Morella Muñoz (July 29, 1935 – July 15, 1995), was a popular Venezuelan singer.
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[edit] Early life and career
Her primary education was at the Venezuela Ricardo Zuloaga Experimental school, and the San José de Tarbes school. In 1946 she entered the Andrés Bello grammar school, getting up immediately to its choir, directed by Lorenzo Spinal Figallo, becoming a member as well of the Central University Choral created and directed by Antonio Estévez, that insisted on her entrance to this institution.
In the selection process, she was detected by the professor of vocalization Lidia Butturini de Panaro, who from that moment would become a determining person in her artistic base and future formation. Already in 1948, she was singing with in the pseudonym of Morella Kenton at the Radiodifusora Venezuela station, entering soon in television, in the program of the famous entertainer Víctor Saume. In 1953, at the request of professor Panaro, Morella enters to the Superior School of Music, studying song, having as teachers Inocente Carreño and Raimundo Pereira in theory and musical scale, Vicente Emilio Sojo in harmony, and Juan Bautista Plaza in music history and aesthetic musical comedy. In this period, her first classic concert was made together with the Orfeón Lamas.
In 1957, after graduating from the school, she traveled to Tanglewood (England) to participate in the Berkshire Music Center summer course. In 1958 she traveled again to Europe, where she studied interpretation of chamber music in the Santa Cecilia Academy of Rome, under the direction of Giorgio Favaretto while simultaneously attending Italian courses in the Dante Alighieri Institute.
After this, she passed to the Vienna Superior Academy of Music and Art in which she completed the song course. Also, during this period she visited Quekhoven (Netherlands), where she made courses of song and interpretation with Noemí Perugia.
[edit] Professional career
The albums Six Venezuelan songs of Antonio Estévez and American songs, were albums that circulated at the Venezuelan market, selection of spirituals and compositions that sang in March of 1957 in the concert that offered Pan-American music in the Museo de Bellas Artes of Caracas. In 1961 sang at the Palazzo Forte of Verona, under the auspices of the Academy of Musical Culture of this city, she gained the Spring Prize of the Prague international contest for singers of academic formation. That same year she contracted marriage with Pedro Alvarez Ibarra of whose union two children were born. After returning to Caracas, enters at the Quinteto Contrapunto, whose first album of a series of five, was recorded in 1962. Soon she returned to Europe and in London she took particular classes with Rozna Side, like part of a vocal technical advanced officer training course. At the return to the country her album produced in England circulated with the name Venezuelan infantile Songs. In 1967 came to baptism of the album Alirio and Morella songs, folk music of Venezuela and Christmas songs, interpreted by her and the guitarist Alirio Diaz. Also around this time circulated a series of albums (LP) dedicated to traditional Christmas songs with the participation of several artists. In addition to her numerous presentations in all the country, individual and with figures like Ignacio Figueredo and Fredy Reyna, participated in several tours, singing not only in the respective capitals but in other important cities of Europe and America. Like recognition to her talent, was the only South American singer that was included between the new values of the XX century, in the Encyclopedia of the music (Germany 1959/Spain 1970) directed by Fred Hamel and Martín Hürdimann. As far as her repertoire, at the folkloric field Morella Muñoz, interpreted traditional Indigenous, religious and popular songs, contemporary urban compositions, and in the academic field their interpretations included the concert, mass, oratorio, réquiem, the song of art and the opera, remembering in this last sort their roll of Doña Bárbara. She was considered by many to be the best Latin American interpreter of Brahms. Also, she specialized in the music of Schubert, Schumann, Wolf, Bach, Handel and Mahler.
[edit] Last years
Morella sang along with the Chamber Orchestra of the UCV, the Venezuela Symphony Orchestra, the Caracas Philarmonic Orchestra and the National Orchestra Simón Bolivar, being soloist in Mozart's Requiem, Handel's Messiah, Vivaldi's Gloria and Beethoven's Ninth symphony. In 1982 she made an anthological edition of 12 albums, accompanied by the testimonial book the invention by the song by Carlos González Vegas. In 1988, was the inaugural voice of the First Caracas Christmas proclamation, celebrated in the Plaza Bolívar of Caracas. Between 1989 and 1992, evolved like adviser of the Culture Ministry, with concrete contributions for the creation of the Regional Direction of Development. In 1994 were publicated by Disco Club Venezolano a compact disc and a book in her honor, titleholders Morella Muñoz, our voice. Throughout her artistic life she received numerous distinctions, among them the National Music Prize in 1992.
[edit] Trivia
- In 2006 Ildemaro Torres made a biographical book about the life of Morella Muñoz, for the Biblioteca Biográfica Venezolana, with the seal of El Nacional.
[edit] External links
- Morella Muñoz Discography (with the Quinteto Contrapunto)
- Songs of Pilón by Morella Muñoz
- Cantos indígenas by Morella Muñoz
