the great Amália Rodrigues and three places to vibrate with Portuguese music

Like diamonds that are formed from a solid black earth, in the middle of the 19th century in the darkest and poorest streets of Lisbon, fado was born, a musical genre that absorbed the versatile Portuguese spirit and that with the passage of time became a symbol of identity. It is not enough to sing fado; You have to live it, feel it with your whole body. Amália Rodrigues, recognized as the Voice of Portugal and the Queen of Fado, he felt it deeply, becoming an emblematic figure and leaving a timeless mark on Portuguese culture. Now, 25 years after his death, his legacy lives on and is celebrated with the first immersive biographical exhibition at the Marvila cultural center in Lisbon.

Ah, Amália – Living Experience, Composed of eight rooms with different thematic environments, it combines art and technology to guide visitors through the universe of the fadista, from her humble beginnings to her consecration as the most influential voice in the country. One of the most impressive attractions is the 360º room that offers an experience of videomapping, a full-scale hologram that recreates a performance by Amália Rodrigues at the emblematic Olympia theater in Paris. In addition, lighting and visual installations are presented, accompanied by the singer’s powerful voice that takes viewers back to the time when she shone on stage.

In the middle of the 19th century in the darkest and poorest streets of Lisbon, fado was born.

During the Salazar dictatorship, the cliché arose that Portugal is defined by the three efs: football, Fátima and fado. This musical genre was used to promote the friendly face of the dictatorship and carried that label many years after the carnation revolution. During that time Amália cemented her world fame and promoted her career internationally: travels, films and shows, but after the revolution she suffered persecution from the left that linked her to the regime and accused her of being a fascist. Only after her death did it become known that, for decades and under surveillance by the regime police, she secretly helped the Portuguese resistance. It was Amália herself who revolutionized the world of fado and introduced the fashion of dressing in black; many fadistas still follow this tradition today.

At dusk, the vibrant voices of the fadistas are allied with the sounds of the guitars, penetrating every corner of the old Lisbon neighborhoods, where the most famous fado houses are now located. Songs that express intense emotions of love and heartbreak, the bittersweet feeling of saudade, and the ups and downs of everyday life.

Maria Severa Onofriana, the first great Lisbon fadista, who conquered the public with her deep voice full of pain

Although Amalia Rodrigues popularized fado, this genre had already been recognized before. Its origin is covered in a halo of mystery: sound traditions brought by sailors from different parts of the world, especially Arabic, Cape Verdean and Brazilian music, were those that contributed to the formation of its character. The appearance of her as we know her today is closely connected with the name of Maria Severa Onofriana, the first great Lisbon fadista, who with her deep voice full of pain conquered the public beyond the small taverns of Bairro Alto and Mouraria. .

Despite being the protagonist of many urban legends, Maria Severa remains a mystery and many details of her life are unknown. We know that Severa practiced prostitution following the path of her mother, she sang fado in taverns and in bullfights, where she dazzled her future lover, the Count of Vimioso, and thus she began to sing in the homes of aristocrats, promoting fado in other circles. social. Her life was tragically interrupted: she died of tuberculosis at only 26 years old and was buried in a common grave, without a coffin, according to her wish expressed in her last verses.

From the first decades of the 20th century, thanks to radio, television and magazines specialized in this genre, fado spread throughout Portugal, no longer being associated with marginality. However, his triumph did not last long. In 1927 the government of the dictator António de Oliveira Salazar adopted several measures that, like a noose, stifled all cultural activities: fadistas could no longer sing outside the so-called fado houses, they needed a permit to perform in public and the lyrics had have to go through the censorship of the regime. The fado began to suffocate.

Tasca do Chico

“Fado is the living heritage, it has always overcome difficulties and even in the darkest times the fadistas managed to evade censorship, playing with words and singing spontaneously and for free in taverns and bars,” explains Sara Pereira, director of the Museum. of Fado. It was like this, reacting to censorship, that fado vadio was born: informal, non-professional, but it comes from the Portuguese soul and sounds authentic. One of the most famous houses where you can hear this style is the Tasca do Chico, inaugurated by Francisco Gonçalves in 1996.

Even before the doors open, a line of tourists gathers at the entrance, trying to take a seat at large wooden tables inside the restaurant. The Tasca do Chico looks like a museum: photos of Francisco Gonçalves with famous people hang on the walls, scarves from soccer teams from around the world decorate the ceiling, and the overwhelming silence at show time creates an aura like in a gallery. art.

The tavern is open every day, but the fado vadio shows take place only on Mondays and Wednesdays. Starting at nine at night, the artists take to the improvised stage at an open microphone for three songs each, with a 20 or 30 minute break to rest.

Because it is one of the cheapest places (there is only a mandatory drink of 15 euros per person) and popular among tourists, the waiting time is long, an hour and a half, so it is better to have dinner or wait to enjoy petiscos Portuguese as soon as there is room at a shared table.

fado club

The fadistas move from one room to another of the restaurant in the heart of the Alfama neighborhood, next to the famous Sé de Lisboa, always elegant, but without losing the spirit of freedom. When they enter the candlelit room, the audience falls into an almost religious silence and looks at the musicians waiting to hear the first notes. The traditional scene is always composed of a fadista, two guitars (one Portuguese and one Spanish) and sometimes a bass or a double bass joins them to make the rhythmic base.

At the time of starting the performance, the waiters dressed in black suits close the curtains separating the rooms from the madding crowd, and stop the service; The lights illuminate the musicians who quietly discuss the next song, and capture all eyes with their expressive body rhythm and singing, from the first to the last note.

“Each fado show is an improvisation,” explains Lina Rodrigues, a renewer of fado and star singer of the Clube de Fado for eight years. There are more than 200 melodies in the repertoire, but the lyrics are separate and are selected depending on the experience and even the mood of the artist. “We already know what lyrics work for each melody, but it is still an unrepeatable experience. Fado passes through the body, sometimes after the concert my back hurts, sometimes I cry. It is a very exciting genre,” she adds Rodrigues.

Every day the Fado Club offers high quality concerts; It is possible to see the performance program beforehand, so you can reserve a table on the day your favorite singer performs.

Fado ao Carmo

In the early 2000s, years after the carnation revolution that put an end to the dictatorship, fado entered a new stage, and in 2011 it was recognized as a world heritage site. With the increase in the number of tourists visiting Portugal, demand for fado shows has increased, but as prices have also skyrocketed, there are fewer and fewer Portuguese at the performances.

Rodrigo Costa Félix, a professional singer with more than 30 years of experience and one of the precursors of the new generation, had always dreamed of opening his own fado house. It was in 2019 when his dream came true: with his friend, guitarist Luís Guerreiro, they opened the Fado ao Carmo restaurant, a cozy space where every day they dedicate themselves to his passion.

Before Rodrigo Costa Félix enters the scene, the main lights are turned off, leaving only some lamps to shine through wine bottles. Not even the fan blades make noise. The intervals between dinner and the performances are perfect to fully enjoy both experiences. In fado houses you usually see male and female singers who take turns in each act. Rodrigo Costa Félix gives concerts almost daily, but the female fadistas and musicians who play classical guitar change constantly during the week. At the end, applause erupts in the room and spectators come to thank and congratulate the artists.

To promote the culture of fado not only among tourists, but also among the Portuguese, the owner of Fado ao Carmo offers a menu of Portuguese snacks after ten at night, when the atmosphere of the restaurant becomes more relaxed and the atmosphere more local.