Armandinho

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Armandinho (actually Armando Augusto Salgado Freire , born October 11, 1891 in the Alfama district in Lisbon , † December 21, 1946 in Lisbon) was a Portuguese guitarist and composer of fado .

Life

From his father he learned to play the mandolin ( Portuguese : Bandolim) before he turned to the Portuguese guitar at the age of 12 , as an admirer of the then popular guitarist Petrolino (1859-1933).

He took on various jobs, including a shoemaker, sailor and worker in a match factory. In the course of the 1920s he made a name for himself as an accompanist in fado bars, so that his popularity and engagements increased and from the end of the 1920s he was able to devote himself entirely to guitar playing. In 1925 he was a co-founder of the SECTP ( Sociedade de Escritores e Compositores Teatrais Portugueses , German: Society of Portuguese Writers and Theater Composers), today's collecting society, Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores . In 1926 he first recorded records for Columbia Records , distributed in Portugal by Valentim de Carvalho .

His great popularity in circles of music lovers led him to tour abroad, for example to the Portuguese colonies of Angola and Mozambique in 1933, to Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay in 1935 and to Great Britain in 1943. He also accompanied Amália Rodrigues ' first appearance abroad, in Madrid in 1943 , after he had already accompanied her in her pioneering engagements in the Fado restaurant Retiro da Severa from 1939.

After he had changed the record company several times, he took up again from 1944 until his death in 1946 for Columbia with distribution by Valentim de Carvalho.

reception

Armandinho was known for his innovative guitar playing. As a soloist he was able to develop a lyrical style characterized by sensitive changing tempos that reached new levels of expression and intensity. As an accompaniment, he gave the Portuguese guitar greater importance in the fado lecture for the first time. He was the first to introduce pieces with a short solo, and in his accompaniment was able to harmonize with the vocals to an unprecedented extent and to emphasize each other in the interplay with it. He is therefore considered the most important innovator of the Portuguese guitar in Fado. His numerous recordings also underlined his importance and supported his fame. Armandinho had a lasting influence on the following generations of interpreters of the Portuguese guitar, and his recordings are still published today.

As a composer and as a collector and chronicler of fado pieces, he also achieved great importance for the history of fado.

In Lisbon and Odivelas streets were named after him.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Salwa Castelo-Branco: "Enciclopédia da música em Portugal no século XX, AC". 1st edition, Temas & Debates, Lisbon 2010, p. 46f ( ISBN 978-989-644-091-6 )
  2. ↑ ditto
  3. ↑ www.portugalio.com , accessed December 28, 2013
personal data
SURNAME Armandinho
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Salgado Freire, Armando Augusto (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Portuguese guitarist
DATE OF BIRTH October 11, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Lisbon
DATE OF DEATH December 21, 1946
Place of death Lisbon