Into my sad heart

Linda Leonardo: Eterno Fado

I was excited when I saw this ARC Music album of music by the superb Fado singer Linda Leonardo, entitled Eterno Fado, which is due to be released on July 27, 2018. Alas, it's a re-issue of her great 2007 release, which was called The Mystery of Fado, albeit one with fine production values. A beautifully designed liner booklet includes the lyrics of each song, with English translations, and as a bonus, some poems by Leonardo, again with translations. As well, the booklet includes complete information about the musicians supporting Leonardo, an important reason for the very high quality of this album. Though the soul of Fado is in the expressive, emotional voice part, it's set off and provided with further depth by the accompanying Guitara Portuguesa and Viola (classical guitar), and occasionally other strings and piano. The group supporting Leonardo for most of the songs in this session are Diogo Clemente, guitar, José Manuel Neto, Portuguese guitar, and Marino de Freitas, bass. The CD was recorded at the famous Pé de Vento Studio in Foros de Salvaterra, where so many great Fado albums were recreated.

Nearly every song here is a classic, full of saudade in the lyrics, but with an unmistakably upbeat rhythm keeping outright depression at bay. A standout is the 12th track, Chamar fado á solidão, with music by bassist Marino de Freitas and lyrics by Tiago Torres da Silva.

But I wouldn’t have wanted to sing,
Without having brought Fado
Into my sad heart.

Though I would have preferred a brand-new Linda Leonardo release, I can whole-heartedly recommend this marvellous CD, and every one of the 14 songs included in it.

A Voice of the Century

From November 27, 2012:

Amalia Rodrigues had one of the great voices of the 20th Century, and looms large in the history of fado, Portugal's most vital and important musical form. Her voice is as strong and pure as Patsy Cline's, and as dramatic and full of pathos as Maria Callas's. She recorded so many records from 1945 until the late 1990s, providing lots to choose from in creating the second disc in this Queen of Fado series. The songs on the CD are all of great simplicity and power, and she is more than ably accompanied by her long-time guitarist partner Santos Moreira, along with Domingos Camarinha, Raul Nery or Jaime Santos playing guitarra portuguesa. There are also a few songs with orchestral accompaniment, which apparently caused quite a stir when they were first recorded. That fuss reminded me of the controversy when Bob Dylan first went electric. In the end, though, it's all about the music. And the voice.

ARC Music continues to enrich the musical life of the world through their recording and licensing of important music from around the globe. This disc, endorsed by the Foundation Amalia Rodrigues, has my enthusiastic endorsement as well.

New classics of Fado

From March 3, 2011:

Custodio Castelo is a master of the guitarra portuguesa, a really cool instrument that looks like a mandolin and has odd tuning and sympathetic strings, like a baryton or sitar. It's an important part of the traditional accompaniment for the genre of music known as fado, which comes from 19th century Portugal and which remains very popular around the world today.

Any type of music becomes of only antiquarian interest unless there are great interpreters to breathe life into old works, and great composers to re-invent the form. Castelo plays both roles, and the evidence is here in this new CD from ARC music. Castelo's Ausente ("Absent", the second track on the disc) seems destined to be a fado classic. It's reminiscent of Gente da Minha Terra, the song written by the great Amália Rodrigues and popularized by Mariza. This song typifies "saudade", the nostalgic feeling of loss and sadness so often connected with fado, and with many other forms of music throughout the Portuguese-speaking world.

The album includes less mournful moods as well, though. Quase morna ("Almost warm") is a sprightly dance, while Homage a Paredes shows Castelo is a virtuoso in the same league as the guitarist Carlos Paredes, the famous "man with a thousand fingers". This disc is very highly recommended to fans of world music and great guitar-playing.