We Portuguese are very melancholic people, said Mariza onstage at the Cairo Opera House on Tuesday, “But our melancholy is a sweet melancholy. That’s why we have the fado.
Born Marisa dos Reis Nunes in Mozambique, the artist Mariza is an icon of the Portuguese musical genre fado, meaning “destiny or “fate. Originating in the area around Lisbon, the musical form was introduced to the world through the late Amalia Rodrigues. Some say it is in the town called Moraria that fado was born among the sailors, Mariza tells the audience.
Mariza is the winner of many awards, including International Award from the Amalia Rodrigues Foundation for making Portuguese music known worldwide. She was also chosen as Best European Artist by BBC Radio 3. In 2006, Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio awarded her the Order of Henry the Navigator.
In singing “Meu Fado Meu (My Own Fado), Mariza reveals the vocal flexibility that makes her an accomplished singer. Starting with hushed tone, her voice unfurls itself gradually into a powerful confident reverberation that fills the hall.
Walking out of the concert, you hear people marvel at how such a slender frame can possess such a powerful voice. Even at moments when she is sitting or kneeling, another audience member observes, her voice projects itself remarkably.
The usual accompaniment to a fado is the guitarra portuguesa, the eleven-stringed Portuguese guitar. An acoustic and bass guitar also accompany the opening number “Recurso (Recourse). The piano and percussion step in with the “Ja Me Deixou (Now It’s Left Me), as does the word “saudade.
Approximately translated to longing or yearning, “saudade is a word and sentiment that recurs in many fado numbers. “Beijo de Saudade (Kiss of Saudade), a song from Mariza’s latest album “Terra, reveals the influence of jazz on her music.
Tracing the quaver in her voice, the trumpet and drumming accompany her on a tune inspired from Cape Verde. Mariza has four albums under her belt – “Fado em Mim and “Fado Curvo and “Transparente and “Concerto Em Lisboa.
The three guitars also played to an instrumental fado called the guitarrada. The strumming of the guitar is reminiscent of the falling rain in “Chuva (Rain), a fado about the longing for a past love. But her repertoire has no shortage of jaunty numbers – such as “Rosa Blanca (White Rose) and “Feira de Castro (Fair at Castro) – where she danced along, shaking the tassels on the skirt of her black dress. “Maria Lisboa is also a song that depicts Lisboa as a woman with a dazzling skirt.
Some of her songs are poems set to music, such as “Vozes do Mar (Voices from the Sea) originally a poem by Florbela Espanca.
Mariza’s performance was also seasoned with her reminisces and introductions to Portugal, reminding you that she has earned her place as a cultural ambassador of fado. Growing up listening to fado, she says, her father took notice of her proclivity for singing and taught her to memorize songs through cartoons when she was too young to read. It was in a tavern owned by the family that young Mariza delivered her first performances.
In the Opera House’s spacious Main Hall, she asks the audience to imagine they are in a little tavern, accompanied by two guitarists, she sings, unaided by a microphone.
Charmed already by her stories and her singing, the audience readily accepted her desire to end the night with a party. A first in my experience, Mariza who started the evening with the longing of the saudade had the audience up on their feet and dancing to her final number.
For more information on Mariza, visit http://www.mariza.com.
