Maria Severa

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Maria Severa, drawing by Francisco Metrass

The singer Maria Severa Onofriana , also A Severa (born July 26, 1820 in Lisbon ; † November 30, 1846 there), was a pioneer of Fado in Portugal and one of its most important interpreters.

Life

Maria Severa is considered to be the daughter of the Roma innkeeper couple Severo Manuel de Sousa and Ana Gertrudes and was probably born on Rua do Capelão in Mouraria , an original district ( Bairro ) of Lisbon. Century as the district of the fishermen and fish women. Here she also spent most of her life.

She is described as tall and graceful and earned her living by playing and singing the Portuguese guitar in taverns and also pursuing prostitution.

Severa had an unhappy love affair with Francisco de Paula de Portugal e Castro , Count of Vimioso. She died of tuberculosis early at the age of 26 , according to other sources, she took her own life. She found her final resting place in a mass grave in Lisbon's Alto de São João cemetery .

reception

The Fado bar in Lisbon's Bairro Alto, named after Maria Severa-Onofriana

Maria Severa is considered a pioneer of Fado in Portugal and its most important interpreter in the 19th century.

Her tragic life and end inspired the playwright Júlio Dantas to write a play called A Severa in 1901 , which the director José Leitão de Barros used as a template for the first Portuguese sound film of the same name in 1931. In Carlos Saura's film Fados , Maria Severa is portrayed by the young fadista Cuca Roseta in 2007 . On March 29, 2019 Severa - O Musical premiered in Lisbon's Teatro Politeama . The musical , directed by Filipe La Féria, is one of the most elaborate musicals in Portuguese theater history. The premiere was celebrated by the audience, including a number of current Fado greats such as Ana Moura , Carminho and Raquel Tavares as well as the Brazilian revue star Brigitte Blair and the Portuguese actress and comedian Maria Rueff .

Today most Fado singers still wear a black silk scarf, one of their favorite accessories. In the Bairro Alto district in Lisbon, a famous Fado bar bears her name.

Web links

Commons : Maria Severa Onofriana  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Filipe La Féria aclamado na noite da estreia de "Severa - O Musical" ("Filipe La Féria celebrated on the premiere night of 'Severa - O Musical'"), article from March 30, 2019 on the website of the Portuguese society magazine Caras , accessed on August 26, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Severa, Maria
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Severa Onofriana, Maria (full name); Severa, A.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Portuguese fado singer
DATE OF BIRTH July 26, 1820
PLACE OF BIRTH Lisbon
DATE OF DEATH November 30, 1846
Place of death Lisbon