In 1988 I had the pleasure to listen and meet Amalia
Rodrigues life at the Casino Sun City in South Africa and it was a pleasure to
heat at her table. At the time I worked at Ferreira’s in Johannesburg and my
boss invited Amalia to South Africa and he invited me to see her on stage and
to meet her at a lunch; that I thank Mr. Ferreira and his family for this
opportunity and many others! Between 1981 and 1992 I worked 11 years for Mr.
Ferreira and many times I miss his personage!
I came to find out that Amalia had the same name as my
Mather that I carry myself (da Piedade) that means that we are related in one
way or another. GOD Bless you Amalia.
Amália da Piedade Rodrigues
Lisboa, was born on July 23 or July 1, 1920 - Lisbon, died on October 6, 1999.
She was a Portuguese fado singer and actress, considered the ultimate example
of fado, commonly acclaimed as the voice of Portugal and
one of the most brilliant female singers of the 20th century. It
is buried in the National Pantheon, among the illustrious Portuguese.
It became known worldwide as the Queen of Fado and, consequently, due to the symbolism that this musical genre has in Portuguese culture, was considered by many as one of its best ambassadors in the world. He appeared on several television shows around the world, where he not only sang fados and other songs of Portuguese popular tradition, but also contemporary songs (beginning the so-called fado-song) and even some music of foreign origin (French, American, Spanish, Italian , Brazilian). His own contribution to the history of Fado was the novelty he introduced to sing poems by great Portuguese authors, after being ensconced. He also had at his service the pen of some of his greatest contemporaries poets and lyricists such as David Mourão Ferreira, Pedro Homem de Mello, etc.
It became known worldwide as the Queen of Fado and, consequently, due to the symbolism that this musical genre has in Portuguese culture, was considered by many as one of its best ambassadors in the world. He appeared on several television shows around the world, where he not only sang fados and other songs of Portuguese popular tradition, but also contemporary songs (beginning the so-called fado-song) and even some music of foreign origin (French, American, Spanish, Italian , Brazilian). His own contribution to the history of Fado was the novelty he introduced to sing poems by great Portuguese authors, after being ensconced. He also had at his service the pen of some of his greatest contemporaries poets and lyricists such as David Mourão Ferreira, Pedro Homem de Mello, etc.
The daughter of a cobbler
who, to support her four sons and his wife, tried her luck in Lisbon. Amália
was born, according to her birth seat, at five o'clock on July 23, 1920, at
Martim Vaz, in the parish of Lisbon, Pena. Amalia,
however, intended that the anniversary be celebrated on July 1 ("in the
time of the cherries"), and said: Perhaps because that was the time of the
month when there was money to buy me gifts. Fourteen
months later, his father, having not arranged a job, returned with his family
to Fundão. Amália
stays with the grandparents in the capital.
Her singing side soon reveals herself. Amalia was very shy, but she started to sing for her grandfather and the neighbors who asked her. In his childhood and youth, he sang Carlos Gardel's tangos and popular songs that he heard and asked him to sing.
At 9, her grandmother, illiterate, sends Amalia to school, which she liked to attend. However, at the age of 12 they have to interrupt their schooling as was often the case in poor homes. He then chooses the embroidery craft, but soon changes to wrap cakes.
At age 14, she decides to go and live with her parents, who are returning to Lisbon. But life is not as good as at grandmas' house. Amalia had to help her mother and put up with the older, authoritarian brother.
Her singing side soon reveals herself. Amalia was very shy, but she started to sing for her grandfather and the neighbors who asked her. In his childhood and youth, he sang Carlos Gardel's tangos and popular songs that he heard and asked him to sing.
At 9, her grandmother, illiterate, sends Amalia to school, which she liked to attend. However, at the age of 12 they have to interrupt their schooling as was often the case in poor homes. He then chooses the embroidery craft, but soon changes to wrap cakes.
At age 14, she decides to go and live with her parents, who are returning to Lisbon. But life is not as good as at grandmas' house. Amalia had to help her mother and put up with the older, authoritarian brother.
At the age of 15, she will
sell fruit to the Cais da Rocha area, and she is noticed due to the very
special voice signal. He
joined the Popular March of Alcântara (in the festivities of Santo António de
Lisboa) in 1936. The marque's essayist insists that Amália register for a
talent discovery event, called the Spring Competition, in which the title of
Queen of Fado . Amália
would not participate, since all the other competitors refused to compete with
her.
At that time he met his future husband, Francisco da Cruz, an amateur guitarist, with whom he married in 1940. An assistant recommended it to the most famous fado house of the time, Retiro da Severa, but Amália refused to accept the invitation , and then postpone the answer, and only in 1939 will he sing in that house.
He made his debut in the magazine theater in 1940, as an attraction for the piece Ora Vai Tu, at Teatro Maria Vitória. In the theater he meets Frederico Valério, composer of many of his fados.
In 1943 he divorces himself at his request. It then becomes independent. In that same year it acts for the first time outside of Portugal. At the invitation of the ambassador Pedro Teotónio Pereira, he sings in Madrid.
At that time he met his future husband, Francisco da Cruz, an amateur guitarist, with whom he married in 1940. An assistant recommended it to the most famous fado house of the time, Retiro da Severa, but Amália refused to accept the invitation , and then postpone the answer, and only in 1939 will he sing in that house.
He made his debut in the magazine theater in 1940, as an attraction for the piece Ora Vai Tu, at Teatro Maria Vitória. In the theater he meets Frederico Valério, composer of many of his fados.
In 1943 he divorces himself at his request. It then becomes independent. In that same year it acts for the first time outside of Portugal. At the invitation of the ambassador Pedro Teotónio Pereira, he sings in Madrid.
In 1944 it obtains a
prominent paper, next to Hermínia Silva, in the operetta Rosa Cantadeira, where
it interprets the Fado of Jealousy, of Frederico Valério. In
September, he arrives in Rio de Janeiro accompanied by maestro Fernando de
Freitas to play at the Copacabana Casino. At
age 24, Amália already has a show designed exclusively for her. The
reception is so enthusiastic that your initial contract of 4 weeks will last
for 4 months. She
is invited to repeat the tour, accompanied by dancers and musicians.
It is in Rio de Janeiro that Frederico Valério composes one of the most famous fados of all time: Ai Mouraria, premiered at Teatro República. Records albums, sold in several countries, motivating great interest of Hollywood companies.
In 1947 he made his film debut with the film Capas Negras, the most watched film in Portugal until then, with 22 weeks on display. A second film, of the same year, is Fado, History of a Cantadeira.
Amália is supported by innovative artists like Almada Negreiros and António Ferro. The one who invites her for the first time to sing in Paris, in Chez Carrère, and to London, in the Ritz, at parties of the Department of Tourism that he himself organizes.
It is in Rio de Janeiro that Frederico Valério composes one of the most famous fados of all time: Ai Mouraria, premiered at Teatro República. Records albums, sold in several countries, motivating great interest of Hollywood companies.
In 1947 he made his film debut with the film Capas Negras, the most watched film in Portugal until then, with 22 weeks on display. A second film, of the same year, is Fado, History of a Cantadeira.
Amália is supported by innovative artists like Almada Negreiros and António Ferro. The one who invites her for the first time to sing in Paris, in Chez Carrère, and to London, in the Ritz, at parties of the Department of Tourism that he himself organizes.
The internationalization of
Amália increased with the participation in 1950 of the Marshall Plan shows, the
plan of US "support" to post-war Europe, in which the most important
artists from each country participated. The
success is repeated by Trieste, Berne, Paris and Dublin (where she sings the
song Coimbra, which, listened to by the French singer Yvette Giraud, is
popularized by her throughout the world as Avril au Portugal).
In Rome, Amália acts in the Teatro Argentina, being the only slight artist in a show in which the most famous singers of classical music appear.
In September 1952 his debut in New York was on the stage of La Vie en Rose, where he stayed for 14 weeks.
Still in the United States, in 1953 he sings for the first time on television (on NBC), on Coca-Cola-sponsored Eddie Fisher's show, which he had to drink and did not like. Records fado and flamenco records. They invite you to stay, but do not stay because you do not want to.
In the USA he edited his first LP (previous recordings were on 78-speed discs). "Amalia Rodrigues Sings Fado From Portugal and Flamenco From Spain", released in 1954 by Angel Records, marks its debut in the long-play format, at 33 rotations, created just six years earlier and, at the time, still far from market that it would later conquer. The album, to be published in 1957 in England and, a year later, in France, never had Portuguese pressing.
In Rome, Amália acts in the Teatro Argentina, being the only slight artist in a show in which the most famous singers of classical music appear.
In September 1952 his debut in New York was on the stage of La Vie en Rose, where he stayed for 14 weeks.
Still in the United States, in 1953 he sings for the first time on television (on NBC), on Coca-Cola-sponsored Eddie Fisher's show, which he had to drink and did not like. Records fado and flamenco records. They invite you to stay, but do not stay because you do not want to.
In the USA he edited his first LP (previous recordings were on 78-speed discs). "Amalia Rodrigues Sings Fado From Portugal and Flamenco From Spain", released in 1954 by Angel Records, marks its debut in the long-play format, at 33 rotations, created just six years earlier and, at the time, still far from market that it would later conquer. The album, to be published in 1957 in England and, a year later, in France, never had Portuguese pressing.
Amalia gives fado a new
glow. He
sings the traditional repertoire in a different way, syncretising what is rural
and urban.
She sings the great poets of the Portuguese language (Camões, Bocage), besides the poets who write for her (Pedro Homem de Mello, David Mourão Ferreira, Ary dos Santos, Manuel Alegre, O'Neill). He also meets Alain Oulman, who composes several songs for him.
His fado of Peniche is prohibited because it is considered a hymn to those who are imprisoned in Peniche, Amália also chooses a poem of Pedro Homem de Mello People that you wash in the river, that gains a political dimension.
In 1961, she married her second husband, the Brazilian engineer César Seabra, with whom she stayed until his death in 1997.
In 1966, he returned to the United States, performing at the Lincoln Center in New York, with conductor Andre Kostelanetz in front of an orchestra, in a program essentially made up of Portuguese folk songs one night and in another, made of fados (also with orchestra ), in the following.
The same show was staged, days later, at the Hollywood Bowl.
He would return to Lincoln Center in 1968.
Still in 1966, his friend Alain Oulman is arrested by PIDE. Amalia gives her full support to her friend and does everything to be released and put on the border.
She sings the great poets of the Portuguese language (Camões, Bocage), besides the poets who write for her (Pedro Homem de Mello, David Mourão Ferreira, Ary dos Santos, Manuel Alegre, O'Neill). He also meets Alain Oulman, who composes several songs for him.
His fado of Peniche is prohibited because it is considered a hymn to those who are imprisoned in Peniche, Amália also chooses a poem of Pedro Homem de Mello People that you wash in the river, that gains a political dimension.
In 1961, she married her second husband, the Brazilian engineer César Seabra, with whom she stayed until his death in 1997.
In 1966, he returned to the United States, performing at the Lincoln Center in New York, with conductor Andre Kostelanetz in front of an orchestra, in a program essentially made up of Portuguese folk songs one night and in another, made of fados (also with orchestra ), in the following.
The same show was staged, days later, at the Hollywood Bowl.
He would return to Lincoln Center in 1968.
Still in 1966, his friend Alain Oulman is arrested by PIDE. Amalia gives her full support to her friend and does everything to be released and put on the border.
In 1969, Amália is awarded
the new president of the council, Marcelo Caetano, at the World Expo in
Brussels before beginning a major tour of the Soviet Union.
In 1971, he finally finds Manuel Alegre, exiled in Paris.
In 1974 he records the album Encuentro - Amália and Don Byas with the saxophonist Dob Byas.
In the arrival of the democracy they are granted great tributes to him. She is decorated with the rank of officer of the Order of the Infante D. Henrique by the then president of the Republic, Mário Soares. At the same time, she is suffering financial pains that force her to discard some of her assets.
In 1990, in France, after the Order of Arts and Letters, receives, this time from the hands of President Mitterrand, the Légion d'Honneur.
Over the years, he has seen the disappearance of his composer Alain Oulman, his poet David Mourão-Ferreira and his husband, César Seabra, with whom he was married for 36 years.
In 1997 is edited by Valentim de Carvalho his last album with unpublished recordings realized between 1965 and 1975 (Secret). Amalia publishes a book of poems (Verses). He is made a national tribute at the World Expo in Lisbon (Expo 98).
In 1971, he finally finds Manuel Alegre, exiled in Paris.
In 1974 he records the album Encuentro - Amália and Don Byas with the saxophonist Dob Byas.
In the arrival of the democracy they are granted great tributes to him. She is decorated with the rank of officer of the Order of the Infante D. Henrique by the then president of the Republic, Mário Soares. At the same time, she is suffering financial pains that force her to discard some of her assets.
In 1990, in France, after the Order of Arts and Letters, receives, this time from the hands of President Mitterrand, the Légion d'Honneur.
Over the years, he has seen the disappearance of his composer Alain Oulman, his poet David Mourão-Ferreira and his husband, César Seabra, with whom he was married for 36 years.
In 1997 is edited by Valentim de Carvalho his last album with unpublished recordings realized between 1965 and 1975 (Secret). Amalia publishes a book of poems (Verses). He is made a national tribute at the World Expo in Lisbon (Expo 98).
In April of 1999, Amália
moved for the last time to Paris, being decorated in the French Cinematheque,
by the many spectacles that gave in that city and, due to her, the fact that
France begins to realize the Fado. Already
slightly weakened, she thanked the French for having begun to project in the
world, since it was from France that their discs began to spread.
On October 6, 1999, Amália Rodrigues died suddenly in her house at the beginning of the morning, at the age of 79, a few hours after returning from her vacation home on the Alentejo coast. Immediately, the then prime minister, António Guterres, decrees National Luto for three days. At his funeral hundreds of thousands of Lisbon descended to the street to pay him a last honor. She was buried in the Prazeres Cemetery in Lisbon. Two years later, in July 2001, his body was transferred to the National Pantheon in Lisbon. (after pressure from its admirers and a modification of the law that required a minimum of four years before the transfer), where they rest the personalities considered maximum exponents of nationality.
It is known that Amália, seen by many as one of the Fs of the dictatorship ("Fado, Fatima and Football"), had collaborated economically with the Portuguese Communist Party when it was clandestine. Amália Rodrigues represented Portugal all over the world, from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, from New York to Rome, from Tokyo to the Soviet Union, from Mexico to London, from Madrid to Paris (where she performed so many times at the prestigious Olympia).
It propagated the Portuguese culture, the Portuguese language and the fado.
On October 6, 1999, Amália Rodrigues died suddenly in her house at the beginning of the morning, at the age of 79, a few hours after returning from her vacation home on the Alentejo coast. Immediately, the then prime minister, António Guterres, decrees National Luto for three days. At his funeral hundreds of thousands of Lisbon descended to the street to pay him a last honor. She was buried in the Prazeres Cemetery in Lisbon. Two years later, in July 2001, his body was transferred to the National Pantheon in Lisbon. (after pressure from its admirers and a modification of the law that required a minimum of four years before the transfer), where they rest the personalities considered maximum exponents of nationality.
It is known that Amália, seen by many as one of the Fs of the dictatorship ("Fado, Fatima and Football"), had collaborated economically with the Portuguese Communist Party when it was clandestine. Amália Rodrigues represented Portugal all over the world, from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, from New York to Rome, from Tokyo to the Soviet Union, from Mexico to London, from Madrid to Paris (where she performed so many times at the prestigious Olympia).
It propagated the Portuguese culture, the Portuguese language and the fado.
Saisi
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