Commercially successful (her two first albums, Marisa Monte Ao Vivo and Mais, sold 600,000 copies, and Verde, Anil, Amarelo, Cor-De-Rosa e Carvão sold 750,000), Marisa Monte succeeded also in building an international career as a pop artist incorporating some of the Brazilian musical traditions into her style, yielding a truly original Brazilian pop persona. As a producer, Monte worked on Velha Guarda da Portela's Tudo Azul and on Carlinhos Brown's Omelete Man. In 2001, Monte was awarded by the cable channel Multishow with the Prêmio Multishow de Música Brasileira in the Best Female Singer and Best CD of 2000 for her Memórias, Crônicas e Declarações de Amor. The daughter of Carlos Monte, one of the directors of the Portela samba school, Marisa started to take drum classes at nine, having also studied music theory and piano. Having studied opera at 18 in Italy, she spent ten months in that country, where she also decided to dedicate herself to Brazilian music. Returning to Brazil, Monte debuted in 1987 in the show Veludo Azul (directed by Nelson Motta), initially at Jazzmania then at the Casa de Cultura Laura Alvim (Rio de Janeiro), with immediate success. With Nouvelle Cuisine (Nouvelle), Monte interpreted one of the group's performances "Bess You Is My Woman Now" (George Gershwin) in a duet with Carlos Fernando. It was her first appearance in São Paulo, before she started to do solo shows in that capital. The first album, Marisa Monte Ao Vivo, came in 1989 after a TV Manchete special that provided half of the repertory and had the hit "Bem Que Se Quis" (a version by Nelson Motta for "E Po' Che Fa'," by Pino Daniele, the song was included on the soundtrack of the nationwide soap opera O Salvador da Pátria). The second album, Mais, documented Monte's debut as a songwriter with the hits "Beija Eu" (with Arto Lindsay/Arnaldo Antunes) and "Ainda Lembro" (with Nando Reis). The album was a commercial success and promoted Monte's international career, having been distributed through countries she would later tour: U.S., Europe, and Japan. In 1994, the CD Verde, Anil, Amarelo, Cor-De-Rosa e Carvão had the successes "Dança da Solidão" (Paulinho da Viola), "Balança Pema" (Jorge Ben Jor), and "Maria de Verdade" (Carlinhos Brown). The inclusion in the album of Paulinho da Viola's samba and vocals, of the Velha Guarda da Portela's participation (and of the Mangueira samba school's colors in the title) evidenced her intention of creating pop music influenced from abroad that was still based on Brazilian traditions, a trait that would be conspicuous throughout her production. The music video for "Segue o Seco" (Carlinhos Brown) was awarded several times and Monte toured all over Brazil, the U.S., and Europe promoting the album. During that tour, it was recorded live for one of the two CDs on the next album, Barulhinho Bom (1996). The album had a home video companion, documenting Monte's meetings with partners Carlinhos Brown and Arnaldo Antunes, Os Novos Baianos, Paulinho da Viola, and other artists. With the CD and video released in Brazil and abroad, Monte toured Europe, Japan, U.S., and Latin America. The CD Memórias, Crônicas e Declarações de Amor (2000) had the hits "Amor I Love You" (with Carlinhos Brown) and "Não Vá Embora" (with Arnaldo Antunes). On September 22, 2001, Monte performed at Ipanema beach (Rio) for 140,000 people in the Pão Music project. The repertory included "Fé" ("Faith," by Roberto Carlos/Erasmo Carlos), in Monte's words "a prayer for peace." ~ Alvaro Neder, All Music Guide