Albertinho Fortuna

A successful radio artist and a former member of the Trio de Ouro, Albertinho Fortuna recorded his first album in 1944, "Ai, Que Saudade da Amélia" (Ataulfo Alves/Mário Lago), but his first hit was his second album the next year, "Meu Coração Te Fala" (Pedro Raimundo). In the Carnaval of 1947 he had an even bigger success with the "Marcha dos Gafanhotos" (Eratóstenes Frazão/Roberto Martins), but he became known especially for his recordings of Brazilian romantic songs and versions for Argentinean tangos, like "Mano a Mano" (Carlos Gardel/J. Razzano/E. Flores, version by Giuseppe Ghiarone), in 1952. At eight, invited by a friend of his family, Fortuna debuted at the Rádio Mayrink Veiga. Appreciated by the audience, he returned several times to the show, already as a paid artist. On the same radio he won a children's contest, while Lurdinha Bittencourt (later a member of the Trio de Ouro) was the winner in the feminine category. In 1936, the owner of the Rádio Sociedade Fluminense in Niterói (Rio de Janeiro), Gomes Filho, who was also the director of the school frequented by Fortuna, invited him to perform there, as he was then one of the pioneers of the radio station. That same year he returned to Rádio Mayrink Veiga, where he used to sing in duet with Carmen Miranda. Having stayed out of the business for two years, during the period of voice change, he returned afterward to Rádio Tupi, switching to Rádio Educadora do Brasil, and then being hired by the most prestigious Rádio Nacional, where he worked for many years, achieving nationwide success. It was at the Nacional that he was invited to form the Trio Melodia (with Nuno Roland and Paulo Tapajós) for the program Um Milhão de Melodias. ~ Alvaro Neder