* En anglais uniquement
Guiomar Novaës (Novahes) and
Claudio Arrau were the most celebrated pianists born in South America immediately before and after 1900: she in Brazil in 1895 (not 1896, as some biographies continue to list), he in Chile, in 1903. They were first to win international acclaim since Venezuelan-born
Teresa Carreño (1853-1917), who had studied with
Gottschalk. In São Paulo, where the family had moved from a provincial village soon after her birth, she revealed precocity at age four, and began studying at age seven with Luigi Chiafarelli, a
Busoni pupil. He helped her developed the basics of tonal nuance, legato, and pedaling that won her a grant from the Brazilian government to study in Paris. At the Conservatoire in 1909 she placed first among 388 candidates for admission (some sources say 398). The jurors were
Fauré, Moritz Moszkowski, and
Debussy. She was assigned to the class of Isidor Philipp (1863-1958), formerly a pupil of
Saint-Saëns, and graduated two years later with a First Prize.
Novaës made her formal debut that same year with the Châtelet Orchestra conducted by Gabriel Pierné, then toured throughout Western Europe until the outbreak of WWI. Hardly had she returned to São Paulo when an invitation came from the U.S. She made her North American debut in Aeolian Hall, New York City, on November 11, 1915, and returned often during the next 57 years.
Novaës played her U.S. farewell at Hunter College in 1972. To the end, her tone remained mellifluous, her touch varied, her pedaling a wonder, and her legato special, even after sheer strength had ebbed.
In 1922, she married Brazilian architect and composer
Octavio Pinto (1890-1950), who had also studied with Philipp. For their two children he composed Scenas Infantis, which
Novaës played regularly as a recital encore. For the same
Pinto children,
Villa-Lobos wrote the suite Prole do bebê.
Novaës appeared with every major U.S. orchestra, as well as abroad. In England, Queen Elizabeth invited her to play the opening recital in the new London hall bearing her name on April 30, 1967, a program that featured
Novaës' beloved
Mozart and
Chopin,
Beethoven, and
Debussy.
Her recorded repertoire was astonishing, starting with the Victor Company in 1919 through 1927, Duo-Art piano rolls in the 1920s, then Columbia (now Sony) until 1948. In Vienna and Bamberg after WWII, she recorded 11 concertos for Vox (two each of the
Beethoven Fourth and the
Schumann A minor, first with
Klemperer, then with
Hans Swarowsky).
She also recorded
Liszt,
Chopin and
Debussy for
London;
Chopin and
Beethoven (Op. 111 for the first time) on Vanguard; and several Brazilian composers on Fermata. International Piano Archives issued a live recording of
Gottschalk's Grand Fantasy on the Brazilian National Anthem from a Hunter College concert in 1970, one year after Vox/Turnabout released the same music from a Pan-American Union concert marking the centennial of
Gottschalk's death.
Novaës died in her native Brazil at age 84, just seven years after her retirement.