Roberto de Carvalho: Amor, parceria e o legado da MPB

Rita Lee first heard Roberto de Carvalho play guitar before they knew each other. The song he played was "Bandido Coração," composed by Rita for Ney Matogrosso in the 1970s. In this episode of The Business of Life, presented by Nilton Bonder, the musician, composer, and producer Roberto de Carvalho discusses how he abandoned a career in diplomacy to become a musician, and the intensity of his almost 50-year partnership with Rita Lee, which ended with her death in 2023.

Roberto was born and raised between Tijuca and Ipanema. At five years old, he lost his mother to cancer and moved in with his uncles. He started playing the piano at three years old, but music did not capture his interest right away. Inspired by the story of his grandfather, Zenóbio da Costa (1893-1963), a former war minister and ambassador to Paraguay, Roberto wanted to become a diplomat. "Things happened in layers," he says.

At Ipanema Pier in the 70s, Roberto met Jorge Mautner, with whom he made his first professional recording. After being part of João Ricardo's band, he was invited by Ney Matogrosso. Soon after "Bandido Coração," Rita and Roberto met at a canceled rain-soaked show of Ney's at Rio's MAM. The early months were intense. Rita became pregnant, was arrested during the dictatorship, and faced financial difficulties.

Roberto flew to São Paulo, organized lawyers, went to the record label, and helped reorganize the career and life of the woman he was beginning to build a family with. "I was doing what I had to do," he says.

Soon after, Roberto joined Tutti Frutti, Rita's band at the time, as a keyboardist. After that, he became a partner in composition: the first result was the hit "Mania de Você." From there, came "Lança Perfume," "Saúde," and a sequence of albums that helped define Brazilian pop. The creative process was intimate and personal. He played melodies, while Rita listened to the tape and, gradually, wrote the lyrics.

"I was in my thing of playing, improvising. And Rita, very disciplined, Capricornian, somewhat methodical," he says.

In the final part of the conversation, emotionally moved, Roberto believes Rita did not leave him. "I feel Rita alive in me," he says. In a new relationship, he says he is living a new moment — which does not replace the pain, nor competes with it. "I am living a moment of great blessing." The post Roberto de Carvalho: Amor, parceria e o legado da MPB appeared first on Brazil Journal.