The music of the streets of Lisbon
Since the first traces around 1840, the roll of melancholy has invested the city of Lisbon through the fado. This inimitable climate of nostalgia and hazy soul, the saudade, makes heads and bodies sway. Popular legend has it that fado was born in the streets of Mouraria, then occupied by the Moors. But the birth of the fado is still debated and no one knows where it really comes from; for some, the fado would derive from the song of the troubadours of the Middle Ages, for others it would be born from the songs of sailors at the time of the great discoveries, songs impregnated with their adventures and sentimental life: goualante of ports where the sailors were confronted with the world, gypsy lament, local evolution of the Moorish song, or vocal modulations coming from Afro-Brazilian rhythms. Considered as the traditional and urban music of the city of Lisbon, it is now felt as a music that represents the quintessence of Portugal and most Portuguese communities consider it as a symbol of their national cultural identity. Its diffusion in Europe and America, and more recently through world music networks, has contributed to reinforce its symbolic aura. However, Fado has come a long way. Like the tango or flamenco in other countries, it was used in Portugal as a standard for the Salazar dictatorship. During several years the fado was the song of conformism. And then a violent reaction of rejection arose, when the dictatorship fell in 1974, with the Carnation Revolution. This then gave rise to a new fado, more open and airy. Since 2011, Fado is now part of the heritage of humanity and the sustainability of the genre is assured.
The particularity of Fado is that the music is very codified and often played in the same way. Traditionally, it is performed by a solo diva, with a haunting voice, an indispensable element, accompanied by plucked string instruments, including the guitarra portuguesa (a kind of cistrum) and often one or more viola (classical guitar). Each musician has three hundred melodies that he or she must be able to interpret, but can choose his or her singing according to the metrics of the melody, so that the same tune can be sung with different words from one artist to another. It is thanks to this that music is passed on from generation to generation, without schools or conservatories. However, the current evolution of Fado has allowed the creation of experiments with other instruments such as the bass, the double bass or the accordion. This deep and melancholic song, accompanied by classical and Portuguese guitars, inevitably touches the listener's heart.
The fado of Lisbon and the one of Coimbra
Fado is unique, it comes from the heart of the Portuguese soul and there is no evaluation or distinction to make between its different variations. Nevertheless, some dare to distinguish the professional fado from the amateur. The first is sung by those who make their voice their way of life. This genre originated in the working-class districts of Lisbon (Alfama, Mouraria, Bairro Alto). The most sung themes of this fado are lost loves, the sadness of the human condition, the nostalgia of the dead and the small stories of the daily life of the typical neighborhoods. These were the themes that were allowed under the Salazar regime. Lyrics related to political or social problems, or texts that made demands, were banned.
Fado does not only originate in Lisbon: there is another genre, that of Coimbra, the city of students. Monumental and medieval, overlooking the Mondego River, the city's fame is due to the tradition of local fado, interpreted and sung by men, most often students who attend the university. The interpretation of this fado implies a particular rigor of dress with the wearing of pants, a long jacket and a black cape conferring even more solemnity to the moment. The specificity of this fado lies in its interpretation and the themes it deals with. Like Lisbon Fado, this one looks for its themes in folklore, but it did not hesitate to become a protest song, critical of the power and institutions, especially in front of the repressive regime of Salazar, using the metaphor to overcome the censorship. In 1963, Adriano Correia de Oliveira, then a student in Coimbra, recorded Trova do vento que passa, which became an anthem of the student movement against the government. Musically, the fado of Coimbra is quite similar to that of Lisbon, even if it has also sometimes allowed the appearance of new sounds. The major difference lies in the texts, which are more literary and intellectual. The fado of Coimbra is intimately linked to the university life. One finds in the themes approached the preoccupations of its authors: the first loves, the problems of the youth, the nights to remake the world, the disappointed loves, but also the great names of the Portuguese poetry. Its interpreters sing at the beginning of the night in the squares and streets of the city, when the sun is shining on the walls of the city. You will find them on the steps of the Mosteiro de Santa Cruz monastery, or in front of the city's churches. The Fado Ao Centro cultural center is an establishment with a particularly careful programming that militates for the defense of this cultural heritage.
Nowadays, the two fados often meet, both dark, but with the concern of today's poets and musicians to renew the genre. The old fado cohabits with the new fado, always anchored in Lisbon. A whole people has reappropriated the magic of the old fado, with its codified music and popular texts that are passed from bar to bar.
The houses of fado, darkness and whispers
To listen to fado, you have to go to one of these houses, without necessarily wanting to enter the first one that opens its doors. Fado houses must have their own characteristics: it is a place where the music must be lived, a small intimate place where there must also be an exchange between the musicians, the singer and the public. To transmit its intimate atmosphere, fado requires calm, darkness and serenity. This is true for the audience, but also and above all for the interpreter: this is what Cristina Branco, one of the most recognized modern fadists, explains. And when one manages to enter the intimacy of the fado, in this secret place where the memory of a timeless music lives again, one can penetrate the Portuguese soul. One listens, absorbed, leaning against a table, leaving it to the imagination to do the rest. The guitars echo the silence, the interval between the time of life and that of the dream, fed by the voices. Let yourself be lulled by this magnificent Portuguese song, one of the last urban songs of Europe, in a Fado house or in one of the dedicated bars in the historic districts of Lisbon. In Lisbon, Café Luso, Clube de Fado and Senhor Vinho are institutions. In a typical setting with stone arches, you will hear a quality fado that varies according to the mood of the professionals present. The greatest fado players have performed here and the new generation has nothing to envy them. Some more intimate venues offer quality shows: Casa de Linhares or Fado em Si. For a more local experience, go to the Tasca do Jaime, a friend's bistro with a confined space that has kept its soul, or to the Tasca do Chico, a place frequented by the Alfacinhas. Here, if the rhythm is lively, everyone will start singing. And if the tapas are not the best in the city, the interest of the place is first of all to exchange smiles and conviviality. More recently, fado has left the traditional walls and in the late afternoon you can listen to it in the House-Museum of Amália where concerts are regularly held(Casa Museu Amália Rodrigues).
And no, Fado is not outdated and there is life after Amália Rodrigues! After an apparent period of abandonment in the 1970s and 1980s, Fado is showing renewed vitality and interest, with new musicians, composers and singers appearing every year. Its process of interaction with other musical traditions has given it a new vitality that reaffirms it as a living cultural tradition. If the profane Madredeus and the overwhelming voice of its fantastic singer Teresa Salgueiro have made its excellent "world" rereading known all over the planet, Mafalda Arnauth, Carlos do Carmo, Camané, Carminho, Dulce Pontes, Anabela Duarte, Katia Guerreiro, Mísia, Ana Moura, Lula Pena, the very elegant Cristina Branco or the fabulous Mariza are rediscovering and reviving the genre with a certain grace, while remaining faithful to the music of the fado houses and tavernas, to the sense of abandonment that the genre implies. For this new generation of artists, their place in the tradition and their contribution to fado is a crucial question, sometimes even an obsessive one. They are thus torn between their individual artistic identity, necessary in a media-driven and globalized society, and their collective responsibility in the preservation of a heritage, which they must continue to keep alive. This new generation of artists goes beyond their local roots, performing on national and international stages, but also wishes to maintain a strong local presence, where their peers will grant them recognition. A common repertoire links these fadists, despite their different styles and distinct paths. The fado repertoire appears as the red thread of this practice, shared by actors who identify themselves as "fadists" across geographical spaces, from the old neighborhoods of Lisbon to the worldwide diffusion of the genre, and its evolution in time, from the second half of the 19th century to today. As a symbol of this return to the roots, Mariza, one of the most famous Fado singers, returned to traditional Fado in 2010 with the album Fado Tradicional, going back to the roots of the genre. Every year, the Santa Casa Alfama festival takes place in the heart of Lisbon, a music festival dedicated to traditional Portuguese melodies. For two days, the life of the Alfama district is punctuated by fado singers. Fans take to the streets and squares to attend a series of concerts and live music.
And for those who are interested in the genesis of this music, you must make a detour to the small Fado Museum of Lisbon, also in the Alfama neighborhood. The visit is very instructive and didactic, thanks to the audioguide. The museum has gathered a collection of testimonies of singer-songwriters, composers and musicians who tell their stories about the construction of the history of Fado. The collection of instruments, posters and vinyls from the 1920s is well worth a visit.
