This plaque is part of the Circuito Musical.
Noel de Medeiros Rosa was born on December 11, 1910, in the Vila Isabel neighborhood in northern Rio de Janeiro. In just six years, he composed more than 250 songs, many of which are considered Brazilian music classics.
It's no wonder that the residents of Vila Isabel cherish the memory of Noel Rosa so much. The “poet of the Vila” sang about the neighborhood in his compositions, the most notable of which is “Feitiço da Vila” — written together with Vadico — with its iconic verses paying homage to Vila Isabel, where “whoever is a bachelor/ isn't afraid of a bamba.” And, in the days of the First Republic — when the presidency alternated between Minas Gerais and São Paulo —, Rio had something extra to offer: “São Paulo gives coffee/ Minas gives milk/ And Vila Isabel gives samba.”
The monument's "frame" is made up of four stylized doors in granite and iron. The artist from Paraíba, Joás Pereira dos Passos — author of other well-known monuments in Rio, such as the one of Luiz Gonzaga in São Cristóvão and Getúlio Vargas in Glória —, stated that he made the statue "as if he [Noel] were composing with a matchbox".
Foto: Beth Santos/Prefeitura do Rio