Photos | roots / childhood / youth

Bartholomeu Fossati, father of Carlo, maternal grandfather of Radamés.
Carlo Giovanni Battista Fossati (1844-1927), Radamés' grandfather, was born in Turin, Piedmont, northern Italy. He studied at the city's famous high school. After graduating, he began to dedicate himself to sculpture, an art he learned from his father, Bartholomeu Fossati, in whose studio he worked until he was twenty-five, when he decided to come to South America. He arrived in Rio de Janeiro in 1869. Hired by the Brazilian government to technically orient the marble extraction works in the quarries of Encruzilhada and Caçapava, in Rio Grande do Sul, he moved to the province in 1871. Due to the lack of material structure and qualified workers, it was not possible to continue the company. He requested termination of his contract and remained in the province. He moved to Porto Alegre where he would reside until his death, at the age of 83. For more information on Carlo Fossati, visit http://www.geocities.com/carlofossati/
Miguel Weingärtner and Anna Catharina Heil, parents of Maria Weingärtner, Radamés' maternal grandmother.
Adélia Fossati Gnattali, (1880-1954) Radamés' mother. A good pianist and piano teacher, she initiated Radamés, Ernani, and Aída on the instrument. The children Alexandre and Maria Terezinha were put to music by their father and sister, Aída.
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Pesquisa e organização por Jussara Gomes Gruber (bisneta de Emília), em 2010.
Angelo Gnattali and Teresa Bighelli Gnattali, Radamés' paternal grandparents, were from Verona, northern Italy. Very little is known about them. Aída, Radamés' sister, recalls an old story: 'One fine day my grandfather found a bag full of money. He didn't tell anyone, hid the bag and waited for the owner to show up. And he did. He went there, returned all the money and left without expecting any reward. People were amazed at that man's gesture because they knew that he and his wife were struggling hard to raise their children. Angelo, l'onestà in persona, that's how the people in the region referred to my grandfather. Dad was very proud of that.
Alessando (the only Gnattali to come to America), son of Angelo and Teresa, younger brother of Francesco, Giovanna, Líbera and Maria. Italian immigrant, laborer, cabinetmaker by trade, he arrived in Brazil at the age of 20, in 1896, the year Carlos Gomes died. In his luggage, a strong desire to become a musician. Aída, his daughter, explains: 'There was no musician Gnattali until then. The musicians were the Fossati, my mother's family. When he arrived in Porto Alegre, Dad was told that there was a family of musicians and music teachers there. They were the Fossati'. In Brazil, Alessandro changed his name to 'Alexandre', but there is no news that he became a naturalized Brazilian.
The original photo arrived in Porto Alegre sent from Verona by his father. Seated, Angelo Gnattali and Teresa Bighelli Gnattali. In the center, standing, his daughter Giovanna. Alexandre (Alessandro), the youngest, who would never return to Italy, had his image put in the photo and shipped a copy back to his family. Absent in the photo are Brothers Francesco, Líbera, and Maria.
Foto: Acervo Aída Gnattali.
Aída, Radamés' sister, said that her brother was "the fruit of love", since he was born on January 27, 1906, exactly 9 months after their parents' wedding night.
Porto Alegre (RS), 27/04/1905. Wedding celebrated in great style, with a concert and dance.
Working until the wedding day, the conductor was the groom! And who commanded the dance was none other than the bride's brother, the flutist Vittorio Fossati, disguised as Victor Itassof.
Foto: acervo Aída Gnattali.
Olga Fossati, Radamés' cousin and violin teacher, recorded in Rio de Janeiro, three records for Casa Edison (Odeon Record), dated December 1913, with the participation of her uncle, cellist Pascoal Fossati.
Pascoal Fossati, Radamés' uncle, studied the cello and graduated in Belgium. He moved to the federal capital in the 1940s, joining the Symphony Orchestra of the Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, where he worked until he retired. He was a very good musician, but he preferred to sit in the last row. He had a horror of showing up,' remembers Aída Gnattali, his niece.
Carlo Fossati, the patriarch, with his firstborn son Cesar, his grandson Romeo (son of Cesar), and his great-grandson Paul (Romeo's nephew).
Radamés and Ernani were born in the house at Rua Fernandes Vieira, Bom Fim, built on the land of their grandfather Carlo's house. 'See that pacifier? It was always brand new. He never sucked a pacifier. Mamãe insisted he use it, but there was no way,' says Aída Gnattali, the maestro's sister.
Radamés, in 1908.
'Dad always did rehearsals at home, with his musician friends. Mom used to say that Radamés, at the age of 3 or 4, would run to get his little violin. Dad would set up a music stand for him, put some sheet music on it, and say: "Stay there, very still, so that you don't disturb the adults. He would stand there very serious, imitating the gestures of the musicians, and when one turned the page, he would turn his own, too," says Aída.
The maestro says: 'At that time, in Porto Alegre, every neighborhood had a kind of Italian club, of workers. That one was called Helena of Montenegro, in honor of the daughter of the King of Italy. There they had a bocce ball, a dance, and an Italian teacher to teach the children. That's where I started to study.
Foto: acervo Aída Gnattali.
Radamés and his brother, Ernani (1908/1968), in late 1908. I was supposed to be called Ernani, my mother liked that name a lot. But, at the time, the son of a relative was born, and she named him Ernani. When I was born, my mother, not to give me the same name, chose Radamés. But the boy died a few months later. Then, when my brother was born, my mother then named him Ernani", Radamés told.
Day of the baptism of Brother Ernani (1908-1968) and inauguration of the house at Rua Silveira Martins, nº 10, today Rua Gal. João Telles, nº 128, in Porto Alegre. In the photo, from left to right, the shoemaker and family friend Caetano dal Fiume, Radamés on his father Alessandro's lap, Uncle Vittorio with Ernani on his lap, his wife Elisa, and Aunt Paulina. Further to the right, Aunt Nina, wearing a white blouse. In front, cousin Maria, wearing a white dress (she became a great pianist) and Uncle Virgilio, holding a hat. In the window on the left, Frederica and Adélia, Radamés' mother. At the other window, grandmother Maria Weingärtner Fossati and Aunt Emília, Maria's mother.
Radamés was 5 or 6 years old, at the Colégio N. Senhora do Bom Consellho.
Burial of grandmother Maria Weingärtner (1852-1910). The sculpture that adorns the tomb is by her husband, Carlo Fossati. Besides Radamés, there are also Uncle Camillo, Adélia (Radamés' mother), Aunt Paulina, and Elisa, Uncle Vittorio's wife.
Aída Gnattali, Radamés' sister, one year old.
Alexandre and Adélia with their children, in 1914. From left, Radamés, father Alexandre (with Aída on his lap), mothers Adélia and Ernani. Their children Alexandre and Maria Terezinha were not yet born.
Maria Teresinha Gnattali (1926 -1946), Radamés' younger sister.
Professor d piano sr. Alexandre Gnattali' (Radamés' father).
Radamés, at the age of 9, won a medal and certificate from the Italian consul for having conducted a small children's orchestra at the Italian Society, performing arrangements of his own. My mother told me that the children stopped playing, one by one, because the arrangements were not very easy. Radamés got nervous, but he kept playing until the end, he was the only one who didn't stop,' recalls Aída. In a statement recorded at the Museu da Imagem e do Som (Image and Sound Museum), in Rio de Janeiro, on August 28, 1985, Radamés is amused by the story and minimizes the feat: 'Ah, that was a joke, a joke'.
Orquestra da Sociedade Musical Porto-Alegrense (RS). Alexandre Gnattali is the bassoonist, in the background, standing on the right.
* Nise Poggi Obino (1918-1995). Pianist and teacher. In 1934, he graduated from the Fine Arts Institute in Porto Alegre (RS) and, the following year, won the top prize in the Araújo Viana contest, with a gold medal and a trip to Europe. In 1944, he travels throughout Brazil giving concerts in recitals, on a mission for the Ministry of Education and Public Health. In 1945, in Uruguay, he took an improvement course with Fritz Busch (1890-1951) and performed with the Sodre Orchestra. Source: Itaú Cultural ENCYCLOPEDIA of Brazilian Art and Culture. São Paulo: Itaú Cultural, 2020.
GRADUATION RECITAL-1924
Orchestra of students from the Nossa Senhora do Rosário Gymnasium. Seated, with glasses, is the conductor and piano teacher Alexandre Gnattali. Radamés' father.
Radamés, in 1922.
At the age of 16, Radamés was already making some money playing piano in the instrumental sextet of the Cine Colombo, in Porto Alegre's Floresta neighborhood, earning 10 thousand réis per day. This group was formed by two violins (Luis and Sotero Cosme), flute (Julio Grau), piano (Radamés), cello and double bass. During this period he also joined, as a pianist, the Ideal Jazz Band, from Confeitaria Colombo, composed of flute, piston, trombone, violin, cello, piano, and double bass.
Radamés was as bum as he was. I didn't study anything, I don't know how I could play such difficult pieces. He had it easy...', commented his sister Aída.
Porto Alegre, 1924.
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Photo: Radamés Gnattali private collection
Preparing for his first flights in Rio de Janeiro, in 1924.
In 1924, at the age of 18 and in his last year of piano studies in Porto Alegre, Radamés was taken to Rio de Janeiro by his teacher and Conservatory director Guilherme Fontaninha to give a recital at the Instituto Nacional de Música. On the program, Liszt and Bach. Fontaninha wanted to show one of his students and brought me here to Rio. He invited all the critics, even Guiomar Novaes was there.
'Os Exagerados', bloco carnavalesco liderado por Sotero Cosme, em Porto Alegre. Além de Radamés (cavaquinho) e Sotero (violino), participavam do grupo Luiz Cosme (violino), o primo Romeu Fossati (na foto, tocando violino) e outros amigos e parentes.
Foto: acervo particular Radamés Gnattal
Porto Alegre, 1926. A partir da esquerda, Aída (irmã de Radamés), uma amiga da família, tia Emília e Ernani (irmão de Radamés) Sentado, Radamés, com Maria Terezinha, no colo, a irmã caçula.
Henrique Oswald Quartet: from left to right, you see Luiz Cosme (2nd violin); seated, Radamés (viola) and Sotero Cosme (1st violin); standing, on the right, Carlos Kromer (cello). In the center is D'Allor, a bassist who joined the quartet eventually. Curiosity: Sotero's monocle and mustache were applied directly to the photo by Sotero himself, who, besides being a violinist, was also a designer and painter. Another cellist who was part of the quartet was the Italian Arduino Rogliano.
A photo of the symphonic orchestra of the Sociedade Musical Porto-Alegrense, founded by Alexandre Gnattali, being conducted by the great conductor Francisco Braga, on a visit to the city of Porto Alegre, capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, around 1928. In the photo are, besides Radamés (viola), members of his family, such as his cousin and violin teacher Olga Fossati (spalla), his uncle Camillo (viola), his cousin Pascoal (violin), and his father Alexandre (bassoon).
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Radamés, in a photo-montage by Aída, his sister, a pianist and passionate for photography.
In 1926, at the age of 20, Radamés composed Batuque, for piano solo. His oldest concert work, in his archive.
When they disembark in Florianópolis, however, the news arrives that the revolution is over.
[The Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra (OSPA) would only be founded in 1950]. The photo shows Alexandre Gnattali, around 1939.
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My mother was a housewife, did all the work and still had time to teach music to her children. She was an extraordinary woman. My sister Aída always says that Mom had a fabulous musical intuition,' Radamés was proud.
Bironga, Radamés' cat, in the 1920s, in Porto Algre (RS).
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Alexandre Gnattali Filho (1918-1990), conductor, composer, and arranger, studied piano with his father and with his sister Aída. Still in Porto Alegre, he studied harmony with conductor Roberto Eggers, from Rádio Gaúcha. In Rio de Janeiro he studied harmony, counterpoint, and composition with Newton Pádua (1894-1966). In 1943 he moved to Rio and started working at Rádio Nacional, alongside his brothers Radamés and Ernani. He remained there as a conductor and arranger until the mid-1960s, when he was hired by the now-defunct Excelsior TV. He went on to collaborate with the CBS record label, where he worked as an arranger and conductor until he retired. He has composed several soundtracks for cinema, theater, and television. Among others, he directed the Brazilian staging of the American musical My Fair Lady, in 1961, with Bibi Ferreira and Paulo Autran, and was musical director for several films, such as Rio Zona Norte, by Nelson Pereira dos Santos.
Pianist and piano teacher Aída Gnattali (1911-2008), Radamés' sister, at 16.
Radamés, in 1927.

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