Fado

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The Portuguese fado singer Maria Severa (1820–1846)

Fado ( ˈfaðu ; Portuguese fate ; from Latin fatum = destiny) is a Portuguese style of music and a Portuguese lecture genre , mainly found in the cities of Lisbon and Coimbra . Works of this style are mostly about unhappy love , social grievances, times gone by or the longing for better times, and above all about the saudade (approximately: Weltschmerz). Fado contains, among other things, Arabic elements, many pitch jumps , prefers minor melodies and expresses that attitude to life that supposedly connects the Portuguese with one another.

The Portuguese name for the singer of fado is fadista . Well-known fadistas were Amália Rodrigues , who is still considered to be the embodiment of Fado, Alfredo Marceneiro , Maria da Fé and Carlos do Carmo . A movement of renewal and / or rejuvenation of Fado is since the early 1990s, led by Mísia and Alexandra (Maria José Canhoto) and is now also in Cristina Branco , Mariza , Camané , Telmo Pires , Ana Moura , Dulce Pontes and Mafalda Arnauth much noted performers.

In 2011 Fado was added to the list of intangible world cultural heritage by UNESCO .

occupation

Fado singer
Fado singer at O Boteko in Porto , 2008

The singer is usually accompanied by a classical guitar and a Portuguese guitar (guitarra portuguesa) , and a bass guitar (viola baixo) is often added. The instruments are traditionally played by men.

While the singing in touristic places is mostly limited to a vocal performer, up to a dozen people can spontaneously take part in a fado in non-commercial fado gatherings. Each singer fervently contributes a stanza with his own text, followed by applause. It is a good tone in the non-commercial fado locality that not only interjections of praise accompany the fado, but often the audience applauds clearly a few seconds before the end of the lecture when a virtuoso fado is presented.

history

The A Severa in the Bairro Alto , one of the traditional fado bars in Lisbon

Fado has its origins in the slums of Lisbon , where it first appeared in the notorious pubs in the Mouraria district . From today's perspective, it can no longer be decided whether it originally developed from the songs of the Portuguese sailors or originated from Brazilian musical styles such as Lundum or Modinha .

In the 19th century, fado was also acceptable in bourgeois salons. The first well-known Fado singer Maria Severa also worked during this time . Fado became internationally known through Ercília Costa (1902–1985), while Amália Rodrigues (1920–1999) became the most influential and successful ambassador of Fado.

Today fado essentially exists in two forms. On the one hand as Fado Vadio (German: stray or stray fado), which is sung spontaneously in the bars of the Portuguese cities and especially in the old quarters of Lisbon, and as Fado Professional , which is performed in concerts with a fixed program and by professional singers is presented.

A more distant relative of the fado in Lisbon (and Porto) is the fado de Coimbra , ballads sung in the old university city of Coimbra since the 19th century , often about the city, student life and love. The singer José Afonso originally sang Fados de Coimbra , and the guitarist Carlos Paredes originally came from Coimbra and later came to Lisbon, where he further developed his music on the basis of the Fados.

Maria de Fátima fuses elements of jazz into her fados. Pop singer Nelly Furtado also uses elements of Fado in her songs, noticeable in her EM song Força and on her album Folklore . For this purpose, Fado groups have emerged, also abroad, such as Sina Nossa or Trio Fado in Germany. Also Lounge projects some DJs or Pop -Bands as Deolinda or avant-garde Fado pop group a naifa expand the range of Fado on.

An initiative around the Fado Museum , the ambassadors of which were the old master Carlos do Carmo and the singer Mariza , launched a candidacy for Fado to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2010 . A large number of internationally known personalities also supported the campaign, including the soccer coach José Mourinho and the Portuguese-Canadian pop singer Nelly Furtado . In 2011 the candidacy was successful and Fado was recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

Artist

The Portuguese term Fadista is not only applied to the singers themselves, but in a broader sense it describes all the active elements of Fado. The word resonates with a lifestyle mythically portrayed in film and literature, which is shaped by Lisbon nightlife, bohemianism and traditions, by culture and underworld at the same time, in the narrow streets of Alfama or Bairro Alto . Films and record covers with photos from the 1920s to 1970s from Fado bars, especially by Alfredo Marceneiro, Amália Rodrigues or Carlos do Carmo, shaped this image, which also affects the appearance of the new generation of fadistas , for example at Mariza , Camané , Ana Moura and Aldina Duarte .

Other well-known fadistas include a. Alexandra, Cristina Branco , Carminho , Duarte , Kátia Guerreiro , Fernando Machado Soares , Mísia , Hélder Moutinho (brother of Camané), Pedro Moutinho (also brother of Camané), Amélia Muge , Telmo Pires , Dulce Pontes and Filipa Sousa .

Well-known guitarristas (guitarists) are u. a. António Chainho and Carlos Paredes .

Movie

Film poster for the award-winning documentary The Art of Amália by Bruno de Almeida (2000)

Fado received an ongoing attention from Portuguese cinema to this day . The book accompanying the exhibition O Fado no Cinema (“The Fado in Film”, 2012 in the Fado Museum ) lists over 120 Portuguese and international films between 1923 and 2012 in which Fado is of major importance. As a result, the film also had an influence on fado, especially with regard to the presentation of the fadistas in their performances.

The first film related to Fado is the silent film Fado from 1923. The Portuguese production by the French director and actor Maurice Mariaud (1875–1958) was inspired by the painting of the same name by the painter José Malhoa . With Leitão de Barros' film A Severa ("The Strictness") about the Fado singer Maria Severa from 1931, the first sound film in Portugal was related to Fado.

Later on, the fado singer Amália Rodrigues shaped the image of fado significantly with her films. She in turn is dedicated to Bruno de Almeida's documentary film portrait The Art of Amália (2000), which contains the last interview before her death.

With Fados (2007) by Carlos Saura and Ivan Dias , an homage to Fado was implemented as a music and dance film without any dialogue.

To this day, Fado has often appeared as a mood-setting element in feature films set in Portugal, including in international productions such as the French box office hit Portugal, mon amour (2013) or in Eugène Green's film The Portuguese Nun (2009). Fado also plays a role in German productions that take place in Portugal, for example in Jonas Rothlaender's drama Fado (2016) or in television productions such as Ein Sommer in Portugal (2013) or the Lisbon crime novels .

literature

See also

Web links

Commons : Fado  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Andreas Dorschel , 'Aesthetics of Fado.' In: Merkur 69 (2015), Heft 2, pp. 79–86 ( article online )
  2. English television report on the official candidacy , clip on YouTube , accessed on April 6, 2014
  3. Declaration by José Mourinho , video clip on YouTube, accessed on April 6, 2014
  4. ^ Statement by Nelly Furtados , video clip on YouTube, accessed on April 6, 2014
  5. ^ Sara Pereira (Museu do Fado), Maria João Seixas (Cinemateca Portuguesa): O Fado no Cinema , Lisbon 2012 ( ISBN 978-989-96629-5-7 )