Maria Fontana
In Il Libro del Cortegiano (The Book of the Courtier), published in Venice in 1528, Baldassare Castiglione recounts imaginary dialogues at the court of Urbino, where Federico Fregoso says: “The courtier should turn to music as if it were merely a pastime of his… and although he may know and understand what he is doing, in this also I wish him to dissimulate the care and effort that are necessary for any competent performance; and he should let it seem as if he himself thinks nothing of his accomplishment which, because of his excellence, he makes others think very highly of.” No one could better describe the art of Maria Fontana, an extremely rare personality in the midst of the Brazilian elite.
Maria Aparecida Cunha Fontana was born in Araçatuba (São Paulo, Brazil), where her father, an engineer, directed bridge construction. Very early she displayed musical talent: at the age of five she could play by ear melodies with the appropriate harmony and rhythm. Due to her father’s work, she had to move frequently, and that did not allow her to have a systematic musical education. She then settled in Campinas where she graduated from the Music Conservatory.