Biography
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Born
30 July 1941
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Died
10 June 2004 (aged 62)
Maria Rosa Canellas (July 30, 1941, Valença, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — June 10, 2004, Valença, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), better known as Rosinha de Valença (Rosinha of Valença), was a Brazilian guitarist, composer, arranger, singer and producer. Her stage name was reportedly given to her by Sérgio Porto, who said she "played for an entire city".
She was considered one of the best acoustic guitarists in Brazilian music and one of the instrumental matrixes of bossa nova. Rosinha was at her peak during the '60s when she was performing at the Bottle's nightclub in Rio (one of the focal points of bossa nova). In that decade and throughout her career, she played with and for many important artists, such as Baden Powell, Maria Bethânia, Aloysio de Oliveira (who invited her to record her first album), Sérgio Mendes (with whom she and his band, Brasil 65, performed during an eight-month American tour), Sivuca, Dona Ivone Lara, Martinho da Vila, Sylvia Telles, Leci Brandão and others.
She left her hometown for Rio de Janeiro in 1963, sitting in several nightclubs until she became acquainted with de Oliveira, who at the time owned the Elenco recording company. At his invitation, Valença recorded her debut album, Apresentando Rosinha de Valença, which was followed by a very successful eight-month season at the Bottle's nightclub, at the Beco das Garrafas. The popularity she achieved in that period yielded her several invitations for participation in TV and radio shows, ultimately bringing her to the stage at the historic show O Fino da Bossa (the first bossa nova show in the city of São Paulo), at the Paramount Theater. She left for her eight-month tour through the U.S. that same year, accompanying Sérgio Mendes and Brasil 65. During that tour, she participated in the recording of two live albums: Brasil '65 – Wanda de Sah, featuring the Sergio Mendes Trio and In Person at El Matador – Sergio Mendes Brasil '65. In late 1965, she toured Europe, performing in 24 countries under the auspices of the Brazilian diplomatic service. In 1968, she departed for a long international season in which she performed in several countries of Africa, Europe, and Middle East, returning to Brazil in 1971. After intense activity that comprised more tours abroad, she formed a band in Brazil which counted on João Donato, Miúcha, Ivone Lara, and Copinha. Along with her nine albums released in Brazil, Valença also recorded others in Europe and the U.S.
She was forced to abandon her artistic career prematurely in 1992 due to brain damage caused by a heart attack. Rosinha de Valença was in a coma for twelve years,living in a vegetative state since 1992. Two years after her coma, a group of artists held a benefit concert at Canecão to help defray the guitarist's medical expenses. It was one of several performances held to help maintain the artist's memory. The first eight years of Rosinha's coma were spent at the home of her older sister, Mariló, who died. After that, the guitarist moved in with her younger sister, Maria das Graças, in a humble neighborhood in Valença. On June 10, 2004, the guitarist died of respiratory failure at the age of 62, in her hometown. On Wednesday night she had been admitted to the Luiz Giosef Jannuzzi Hospital School, where she died at the first hour of the following day.
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