Toquinho in Cagliari, the magic of bossanova

A lazy Monday in Cagliari and a sold-out Teatro Massimo. There is music, bossanova, and there is him: Toquinho, a Brazilian musician, with his numbers – 90 records, 450 songs and over 15,000 concerts – but above all with his ability to tell stories as one would do sitting in an endless afternoon among friends, with a guitar and good wine.

Cagliari is one of the first stops on the tour celebrating 60 years of career: a tribute to his music, but above all to the special bond with Italy, the country where he landed to escape the military dictatorship in Brazil. It was 1968, he was 22 years old. Italy became his home and artistic laboratory: Sergio Endrigo, Sergio Bardotti, Luis Bacalov, Fred Bongusto, and a thousand other suggestions .

Ten minutes after 9:00 PM he is on stage, black suit and light purple vest, next to a small table with a full glass. White wine or just water? It doesn't matter. There is a friendly smile, a reassuring look, a first touch of guitar that is enough. With him, on stage, the bassist Eduardo Penz and the drummer Mauro Lucio Martins: companions on a sound journey who accompany him with a perfect understanding made of looks and smiles .

It is a musical and narrative journey, to the rhythm of samba and bossanova, where songs intertwine with memories. The people, the places, the stories: childhood in Brazil, the Italian years, the flights, the beaches, the clouds, the loves. If the opening is entrusted to the absolute myth of Garota de Ipanema, we move on to Samba de Orly, to then pay homage to Rome with a refined version of Roma nun fa la stupida stasera .

"The secret," he recalls, "is in bossanova, which manages to dress any song with a different rhythm ." A dress that never betrays the wearer, because it offers a relaxed vision of life, with that subtle vein of existential melancholy that caresses the soul.

Arriving in Italy after the first wave of bossanova, Toquinho found in Rome figures such as Chico Buarque and Vinícius de Moraes, already expatriated in Europe. The partnership with Vinícius would be fraternal and artistic. "Who is this young guitarist from São Paulo?", the Brazilian poet and lyricist once asked himself . Thus was born a collaboration destined to mark the history of MPB (Brazilian Popular Music), and above all an indelible friendship.

"It would take a show just to tell it all," says Toquinho, also recalling Vinícius' love for whiskey, which he defined as "like a bottled dog, faithful and harmonious." Together they wrote memorable songs such as Aquarela, Tristeza and Samba de Orly. After his death in 1980, Toquinho continued collaborating with artists such as Chico Buarque, and in Italy with Ennio Morricone . But Ungaretti is also behind Il testamento, the result of a phrase stolen by Vinícius during an argument between the poet and a woman. The songs flow like landscapes from a window facing south: Samba pra Vinícius, Qui Sera, Tarde Em Itapoã, Você Abusou, Chega de Saudade.

Halfway through the concert, here is Camilla Faustino, a young Brazilian singer discovered by chance by Toquinho watching a talent show . She shares the stage in the second part of the show, just when the memories become more intense: Addio, O Que Será, Samba della Rosa… Camilla shapes her voice, smiles, dances, establishes a direct connection with the audience and the group, drawing a lively and spontaneous presence on the music.

The female voice also accompanies him in moments when other important women are evoked. It is the turn of Ornella Vanoni, muse and friend, with whom Toquinho shared the unforgettable La voglia, la pazzia, l'incoscienza, l'allegria. On these notes Massimo melts, abandons all shyness and begins to move: a small collective liberation . The finale is a sheet that opens and becomes Acquarello, the song written in the early 80s. «Let's continue to play / work in the city / we who are a little afraid / but the fear will pass». A fairy tale in music, which continues after 42 years.

The evening, organized by Sardegna Concerti, ends with Tristeza, a song that – with grace and lightness – invites sadness to go away . Everyone standing, everyone dancing: a small carnival that sweeps away dark thoughts and reminds us that, despite everything, living is still a beautiful possibility. That glass on the table, which Toquinho touches every now and then, remains intact. Like a promise: we will see each other again, perhaps to truly share it. Because, as Mastroianni once told him, "whoever plays the guitar can do it anywhere."