Brazilian-Israeli singer Elisete: Happiness is a choice

Brazilian-Israeli singer Elisete has just released her new single “From Rio to Orient,” a song full of optimism and good vibes. For the last 20 years, her aim has been to make people happy with her music.

An independent, self-made artist, she believes that her success comes from a combination of music, optimism, and hard work. Her colorful personality leaves no one indifferent.

Elisete is smiling and full of energy, just like the strong coffee she drinks every morning at Tel Aviv’s Shuk Bezalel. She wears one of the extravagant hats she makes herself, decorated with various ornaments and fruits.

Random people come up to her to say hello or tell her about their day, even as we conduct this interview, and she responds to each of them as if they were her closest friends. 

But her life was not always sunny. 

Elisete had a difficult childhood, losing her mother early in life. “My mother was Brazilian of Sephardi ancestors, expelled from Spain. That helped me in making aliyah,” she recounts.

Elisete didn’t have many opportunities to learn about her family story. She also lost her grandparents as a child. About her African-Brazilian father, she only says that he was in the Marines, was an alcoholic, and they were not close.

So, as a teenager with nothing really to keep her in Brazil, she dreamt of going to Europe, and Italy in particular, as she spoke Italian, having learned the language, as well as English, from songs.

Moving to Israel

Instead of Italy, in 1991 she moved to Israel, following a handsome Israeli backpacker who had been traveling in Brazil. They married soon after. The marriage only lasted two years, but she says her love for Israel is still strong. 

Elisete quickly adapted to her new country. She worked as a samba dancer in a Brazilian dance company in Israel. Four years later she found her niche, becoming a samba teacher for children. 

“I was the first samba teacher for children in Israel,” she says, adding that it was children, a few years later, who helped her and motivated her to switch her professional path from dancing to singing.

“They were always asking me to translate the words of the songs to which we were dancing. And that reminded me that in Brazil, I used to write songs… for dogs. Each dog I knew had a song. I thought if I could write songs back there, I should give it a try in Israel.”

During her professional transition in 2002-2003, she took singing lessons from an opera singer. Although planning to focus on popular music, she wanted to learn classical singing.

In 2003 she recorded her first album, Luar e Cafe (“moonlight and coffee”). Elisete sang the title track in Hebrew, but the music had a Brazilian feeling to it. Both the lyrics and the music were a longing for love. 

At that time, in her private life everything changed for the better. In 2000, she married Miki Retter. They have been married for 23 years and are a happy team together and have a 21-year-old daughter, Alin Retter, who is an athlete and model. 

Having created a peaceful home, Elisete was able to focus on her professional dreams: “Since my first album, I recorded over 200 songs and nine albums.” 

Her repertoire contains extremely energetic dancing songs, as well as acoustic songs and more intimate ballads with Brazilian rhythms and tones. Her sound is faithful to Brazilian samba and bossa nova, and her lyrics are usually simple, optimistic, and accessible to a variety of listeners. She says that through her musical career, she has become a type of ambassador for her two homelands – Brazil and Israel. 

“When I travel around the world, I represent both of my countries.”

Nevertheless, she also avoids being categorized. “I don’t want to be defined by age, gender, my skin color, religion, or even my surname. I am Elisete, just a being who was given a talent I want to share, and make people happy.”

She says it is her mission to bring joy and make people happy. And to enjoy what she is doing.

“If we will be happy, we will have hope,” she sings in one of her Hebrew songs “Ani HaCarnaval” (“I am the carnival”). 

ELISETE ALSO says that being happy is a matter of choice: With the right attitude, every situation in life can be turned into something good. 

Asked how she starts her day, she says she puts on disco music (from the ’80s), has strong black tea, and dances with her dog Mishka. Then she goes to her favorite coffee shop, where she sits for a while drinking her espresso. 

She arrived in Israel not knowing much about the country and not speaking any Hebrew but with a good ear for language (today she speaks seven languages). She learned Hebrew by watching TV shows. Just like she had learned English and Italian in Rio, listening to songs. 

Surprisingly (or not, because she came to Israel at the same time as the huge wave of aliyah from the former Soviet Union), the first language she learned in Israel was not Hebrew but Russian. 

“At first, I lived in Bat Yam, and I had Russian-speaking neighbors. They didn’t speak any English, we all didn’t speak any Hebrew, and I wanted to communicate with them, so I learned Russian. Until today, my soul speaks Russian; I dream in Russian,” she says. 

After a short time in Bat Yam, Elisete found her permanent home in Tel Aviv. And now Hebrew is her dominant language. She records mostly in Hebrew, English, and Portuguese, but she also has some songs in Russian. These days, she is studying Arabic because she wants to establish connections in Dubai and perform there. 

Apart from her regular shows, she also sings at weddings and other private events.

“I also volunteer with concerts for people with disabilities; for elderly people, and Holocaust survivors,” she says. 

Although not religious, Elisete feels very spiritual and says that God gave her a talent to make other people happy. It is very important to her to reach out, with her music, to as many people as possible.

“My music is the bridge between the genuine, colorful, multicultural Brazil – the Brazil that gave us the classic relaxed bossa nova of Rio and the energetic rhythms of Bahia, the Brazil that mixes every sorrow with boundless spontaneous joy  – and multicultural Israel with its tolerance and advancement, but also with its rudeness, tension, and its sometimes violent atmosphere.”

Having said that, she repeats that she chooses to see the bright side of everything around her. “In Israel, you can find everything you want. I prefer to find good situations. I always twist the energy [towards the good],” she explains.

While she loves Italian coffee and Italian food, dreams in Russian, sings in many languages, and enjoys traveling to give concerts in other countries, she says can’t imagine living anywhere other than in Israel.

“Happiness is a choice. I had a very hard childhood, but I chose to be happy, and that’s what I do every day,” Elisete says. 

“And that’s what I hope for Israel: happiness and peace in the Middle East and among the people of our country.” ■