Back from Portugal and i´m not only impressed about the history of this country, but I´m very impressed about the folk music of this country: Fado !
Fado is a national treasure and is a worldwide musical symbol of Portuguese culture and tradition. This melancholic genre, which translates to ‘fate’ in Latin, reveals the passion in the Portuguese disposition and evokes a despairing belief in a futile destiny filled with pining and hopelessness.
Each region in Portugal has a musical style and fado, in particular, started in Lisbon although it soon diverged into differing forms in Porto and Coimbra. Due to its emergence in the early 19th century during a time of diverse cultural encounters, there are many projections about the birth of fado. Some say it came with African slaves and was adapted from a West African dance in Brazil while others believe that it was developed from a song of lament by Portuguese seafarers or was developed during the Moorish occupation of Portugal.
Joana Amendoeira
One of the earliest manifestations of fado was in a song depicting the forbidden love story between a gypsy woman by the name of Maria Severe, and Count de Vimioso, a man of nobility. Entrenched in the hopelessness of their love, as Chris Da Rosa of Vanguard Squad states, ‘Maria would find comfort in belting out her sorrows in the bars and clubs of Lisbon’s Barrio Alto, while strumming along on her guitarra Portuguesa (a twelve-string mandolin-like instrument, possibly of Moorish origin)’. This story was depicted in Portugal’s first all talking sound film, A Severa.
Alfredo Marceneiro
It is said that the depth of fado comes from Lisbon’s bar crowds in the Bairro Alto and Alfama districts, however there are distinctive styles of singing fado from Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra – each place defining a certain fado variation. Fado Cantado or sung fado, from Lisbon and Porto, is performed in fado houses, much like a tavern or pub. The History of Fado describes it thus: ‘the man that sings fado usually does it in a black suit. He sings his love affairs, his city, and his miseries of life, criticizes society and politicians’ and most always makes reference to ‘saudade’ or longing”. In Coimbra, fado has the same mournful disposition, but the motivations behind the songs are from the perspective of the more aristocratic avant-garde student, bidding farewell to a youthful bohemian lifestyle or serenading under lovers windows.
João Braga
Although there are many fadistas (fado musicians) such as Judith and Holofernes, Max, Carlos Ramos and Celeste Rodrigues, Dulce Pontes, Mariza and Katia Guerreiro it was Amalia Rodrigues (1920 – 1999), previously known as the ‘Rainha do Fado’ (Queen of Fado), who initially pushed the genre’s boundaries, helping to develop and define it into what it is today. Rodrigues travelled the world performing and recording. Portugal mourned for three days after her death and, as one of the nation’s signature icons she was buried in the National Pantheon in Lisbon. (by Sarah Mitchell)
And: Fado is much more then Amalia Rodrigues only. So I will start my portugese retrospektive with a very fine sampler who introduce us to the magic world of this music. Listen and enjoy all these old and new Fado songs !
Tracklist:
01. Gonçalo Salgueiro: Grito (Rodrigues/Goncalves) (2002) 4.57
02. Joana Amendoeira: Amor Mais Perfeito (Raino/Rocha) (2004) 4.27
03. Ricardo Ribeiro: Esta Voz (Gordo/do Amaral) (2004) 3.00
04. Ana Moura: Amor Em Tons De Sol Maior (Rodrigues) (2004) 3.21
05. Rodrigo Costa Félix: Tinha O Nome De Saudade (de Freitas/dos Anjos) (2007) 4.00
06. Patrícia Rodrigues: Sol Oculto (Correia/Rodrigues) (2004) 2.14
07. João Braga: Ser Não Ser (Bobone/Caeiro/Campos) (2009) 2.55
08. Argentina Santos: As Minhas Horas (Cid/Campos) (2004) 4.03
09. Fernando Maurício: Biografia Do Fado (de Brito) (2009) 3.28
10. Alfredo Marceneiro: Amor É Água Que Corre (de Sousa/Duarte) (1961) 5.06
11. Carlos Ramos: Sempre Que Lisboa Canta (Nazaré/Rocha) (1958) 2.35
12. Lucília Do Carmo: Foi Na Travessa Da Palha (de Oliverira/de Brito) (1958) 2.46
13. Tristão Da Silva: Da Janela Do Meu Quarto (da Costa/Sousa) (1958) 3.35
14. Max: A Rosinha Dos Limões (Ribeiro) (1955) 3.01
15. Maria Teresa de Noronha: Pintadinho (Mariano) (1959) 2.14
16. Fernando Farinha: Eterna Amizade (Barbosa/Campos) (1958) 3.49
17. Amália Rodrigues: Malmequer Pequenino (Traditional) 2.08
18. Alfredo Marceneiro feat. Fernanda Maria: Bairros De Lisboa (Conde/Duarte) (1960) 3.33
19. Hermínia Silva: Sou Miúda (Ribeiro/Fernandes) (1959) 2.10
20. Raul Nery: Rapsódia Portuguesa (Traditional) (1958) 3.02
(Booklet in Portugues, English and Francais)
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