Cristina Braga - Cortejo (2006)

Cristina Braga (Rio de Janeiro, 1966) is a Brazilian harpist who started her musical career as a soloist of the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira and Orquestra Sinfônica Pró-Música da Petrobrás. Since 1993, she has been the principal harpist with the Municipal Theatre Symphony Orchestra of Rio de Janeiro. Her passion for her instrument has taken her to cover both classical and popular music. She has accompanied many Brazilian stars, including Nara Leão, Ângela Maria, Quarteto em Cy and Zizi Possi among several others. She obtained her degree from Rio de Janeiro’s School of Music at UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro). She also studied with Susan MacDonald (Indiana).

Cortejo is Cristina’s 12th album. Prior to it, some noteworthy releases of hers include Alianças (1996, with guitarist Marcus Braga), the Christmas solo Feliz Natal (1997) and its follow-up Natal Brasileiro (1998, with soprano Céline Imbert). Her 2004 Harpa Brasileira received critical acclaim from Tárik de Souza and other journalists. With Cortejo, Cristina navigates an authorial vein and brings an original repertoire of songs written together with Ricardo Medeiros. Besides those eight songs, she also included a couple of traditional numbers and three songs by other composers. Her voice is as soft as her harp playing and at times you will likely think of Nara Leão’s voice and breathy phrasing. The music presented here has a little bit of everything: soft samba (“Nhapopé”), lullaby (“Prelúdio pra Ninar Gente Grande”), bossa nova (“Apelo”), up-tempo jazz (“Sol com Chuva”) and even some poetry reading (“Crescente”). The album is very introspective and somber.

Cristina Braga plays the harp and provides all vocals. Other musicians featured in Cortejo are Leandro Braga (piano), Ricardo Medeiros (bass), Marcos Zama (percussion), Joca Moraes (drums) and few guests.