12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
LIVE FROM RIO: EMOTIONAL, PASSIONATE PERFORMANCES !, October 6, 2006
This review is from: Maria Rita: Segundo Ao Vivo (DVD)
Five HUGE Stars!! These two live Rio de Janeiro performances by the new MPB diva Maria Rita (Mariano) are wonderful. The DVD is absolutely loaded with 29 tracks of beautiful music spanning over 2 and a half hours. Maria Rita, once thought to be the least musical of the great Elis Regina's kids, is a fully-matured multi-Grammy-winning artist who is one of the most sought-after Brazilian singers in the world, selling out concerts from New York City to Sao Paulo, Brazil to Lisbon, Portugal. And she is on fire on this DVD which went straight to Platinum status and #1 on the Hot 100 Brazilian DVD charts. Don't skip this DVD even if you already own the "Live at Bourbon Street-Sao Paulo" DVD or the "Segundo-live in the studio" DVD. These are separate enjoyable, emotional performances' on a very generous DVD. (see my note) BTW, Rita is pronounced "Hee Ta".
The Claro Hall concert is in front of a sold-out crowd with MR and the quartet performing a whopping 19 songs in March 2006: everything a fan could wish for. With a voice of golden velvet, wearing a beautiful dress, long hair, singing barefoot, and using more "body english" than ever before, she struts the stage like a musical tigress. Like her mom did! She's backed by some of the excellent musicians from the triple Latin Grammy award-winning "Maria Rita" CD and the double Latin Grammy-winning "Segundo (Second) CD.
The 'Pieces d'Resistance', the best of the best, begin with "Nao Vale A Pena" (It's Not Worth It) and her usual wonderful delivery, but then hits her afterburners and lifts the performance to a surprising level that receives a great ovation. Also included are great performances of Muito Pouco (Much Little), Despedida (Farewell), "Conta Outra" (aka Tell Me Another Story), "O Recado" (The Message) and one written by her namesake rocker Rita Lee: "Pagu". And there are two new songs: "Todo Carnaval Tem Seu Fim" (~All Carnivals Have An End) and a sizzling version of reggae/rock band O Rappa's song "O Que Sobrou do Ceu ". And the magnificent "Caminho das Aguas" (Path of Waters) won a Latin Grammy as the Best MPB Song of 2006 based on MR's version. The single nod in the direction of her mom is her musical godfather Milton Nascimento's "Encontros e Despedidas" (Meetings and Farewells) and it's emotionally powerful. If you've never seen her live, this is the one to get, and even if you have, in these performances Maria Rita shows she is among the leaders of the 'state of the art' of jazzy 21st Century Brazilian popular music (MPB). The DVD includes a very tearfull spoken tribute to her late mentor, super producer Tom Capone, who died in a traffic accident only hours after they embraced on stage, basking in her 2004 triple Latin-Grammy triumph in Los Angeles.
At Toca do Bandido studio where her second CD "Segundo" was recorded, MR performs 9 songs in September 2005. The audience is a small gathering of friends and composers, sitting on second story seats looking down on Maria and her trio. The performances of many of the same songs as at Claro Hall are much more intimate and were meant to polish the songs before her performance in larger venues like Claro Hall. Her appearance with head scarf and gypsy earrings is stunning, as is her singing. The DVD includes a humorous music video clip of "Feliz", an explanation of the "Santa Chuva" (Holy Rain) omission in previous DVDs, and a "Making Of" video. Highly recommended. All music is in sensuous, emotional Brazilian Portuguese, which needs no translation. Five HUGE Stars!
(DVD 9, All Regions; NTSC; Color; Dolby Digital 2.0, Dolby 5.1, DTS surround sound; lyrics in Brazilian Portuguese with English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese subtitles for spoken parts; 2 hours & 45 minutes total.)
(Notes:
* The 9 Toca Do Bandido performances can almost be considered bonus material since it has many of the same songs (but different performances) as Claro Hall. Maria and the producers graciously gave us an extra full concert which otherwise might have stayed in a vault for decades, but DVD technology allowed them to stuff the entire Toca do Bandido concert onto the same disc, with other extras. And for that we are thankful. I think it works best if each concert is viewed on separate occasions since they have a separate vibe entirely. Maybe the earlier Toca do Bandido concert should be viewed first. Your choice!
* A special request to producers: next time translate songs and spoken parts into English, if you please, like Milton Nascimento did. As it is, the spoken translations greatly increase enjoyment of these concerts.
* Trivia: she has a new visible tatoo, look for it.)
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
You WILL fall in love!, January 12, 2007
This review is from: Maria Rita: Segundo Ao Vivo (DVD)
I agree with everything the other reviewers said, and won't repeat it. If you have ANY interest in modern Brasilian popular music, you should check this DVD out. This is NOT 3-chord, over-echoed sappy pop, but complex, sensitive, hard-driving, emotionally charged music that will draw you in and leave you breathless. (No, I don't get kickbacks from Warner Video!)
If you've seen her first DVD (also completely worth getting) this will be a welcome addition. If this is the first you've heard of Maria Rita, you will absolutely fall in love with her, her band, and these songs! Since much of her first two albums was recorded live in the studio, it's great to see them all play live, either in the studio or a big hall. I had the privilege of seeing MR and her band live in Chicago last year in a very small venue and the DVD is very similar to that experience. She is truly an amazing performer, and even when rocking out, brings you into the music in a startlingly intimate way, and she and her band have a playfulness that's contagious.
My only wish is that the English subtitles included translations of the lyrics; once you know what some of the songs mean, they become even more captivating. Some are about love, some loss, some confusion, some despair, some poverty, but all are beautiful, most are danceable, and you'll find yourself singing along in Portuguese before you know it.
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