Listening to Ramana Vieira’s album Lágrimas De Rainha (Tears of A Queen) provides an instant education in fado, a form of Portuguese folk music. Perhaps Vieira summarizes it best on “Amália,” a tribute to the late “Rainha do Fado,” or “Queen of Fado,” Amália Rodrigues. “We longed to hide in all your sorrows/This is life, this is love/This is fado,” Vieira croons.
Put simply, fado evokes intense emotion, namely heartache, disappointment, and melancholy. According to Fado.com’s history of the genre, “fado performance is not successful if an audience is not moved to tears.” Fado’s origins date from the 19th century, possibly from an African dance. In the 20th century Lisbon’s working class adopted the music, chiefly as a tool for expressing their frustrations and sadness. Singers called fadistas performed the songs in brothels, saloons, street corners, and in poor Lisbon areas. In order to communicate feelings of heartbreak, singers crooned over a Portugese guitar and one classical guitar; current fado incorporates other instruments such as piano, violin, and accordion (see World Music Central’s excellent history of fado).
As Vieira emphasizes on her album, the undisputed fado legend is Rodrigues; from the 1940s until her 1999 death, her name became synonymous with the music. According to World Music Central, Portugal’s prime minister called for a three-day period of mourning after Rodrigues’s death. This event demonstrates the music’s importance in the country.
Vieira continues Rodrigues’s legacy by introducing wider audiences to fado. “United in Love,” which she composed and performed at the 2006 Winter Olympics, best exemplifies her attempt to appeal to a modern audience. Piano and soaring electric guitar accompany her English language lyrics. The aforementioned tribute to Rodrigues, “Amália,” is sung primarily in English. A standout track, Vieira pours her soul into the words, letting listeners experience the depth of her admiration for the legendary singer.
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Article comments
1 - John Lennon
That is unfortunate that she is unsuccessful at showing what Portuguese Folk Music is all about because very few people have heard of and or are educated about this form of music.