Formosa Hi-Fi

The Story

This underground gallery beneath the Viaduto do Chá was designed by Mário de Andrade and opened in 1938. It remained closed and abandoned for about five decades until Elis Regina, in the 1970s, cleaned the space with her own hands to rehearse the show Falso Brilhante. 50 years later, entrepreneurs Facundo Guerra, Alê Youssef, and Ale Natacci reopened the gallery as Formosa Hi-Fi, Brazil's first high-fidelity listening bar dedicated to recorded music. The acoustic design is signed by José Augusto Nepomuceno, from Acústica & Sônica, also responsible for Sala São Paulo, Teatro Cultura Artística, and the Lincoln Center in New York. The nights are dedicated to jazz, blues, hip-hop, samba, and electronic music, with curation by DJs, collectors, and guest artists, always playing the original versions of the records.

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