Fado Singers in the 21st Century. Fado Revisited in Several Biographies

Just a year after FADO was recognized as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO, Rui Martins Ferreira published a new book: Fadistas no século XXI. O Fado Revisitado em Biografias Várias (Fado Singers in the 21^st  Century. Fado Revisited in Several Biographies). In addition to many interesting sketches on Fado, the new book is also richly illustrated by a number of photographs taken by João Vasco, who is also a teacher.

Rui Ferreira, besides being a writer and a teacher of Portuguese, is also a talented fado singer and so it was great to see him discuss that wonderful genre on January 31 as he and João Vasco presented their new book at EB 2, 3 Paula Vicente.

Fado is that unique style of music that is very much part of   Portuguese identity. For years it has helped promoting our culture abroad, such as our instruments, talented musicians and beautiful poetry. Fado and the new wave of singers - without of course forgetting the great contribution of Amália Rodrigues - were all depicted in Rui’s exciting presentation.

Afterwards, we heard fado… It was indeed a great moment to listen to Rui’s powerful voice, singing a wonderful repertoire of many well known songs. However, there was surprise reserved as he sang “Medo” for the first time, as he promised the singers, Anabela and Vanessa, (from La Féria´s Musical “ Uma noite em casa de Amália”-An evening at Amalia´s place) that he would sing it at our school. The concert then ended with one of my favourite fados, Barco Negro!

After such a good time, I must admit that it was fantastic to witness our library become a fado venue. The authors signed several copies of their books and the audience could not help to try some of the other popular delicacies that go so well with a fado tune: delicious cod cakes! Overall, it is moments like these that make me so proud of our wonderfully unique culture.

Thanks, Rui!