31 January 2010

Lately I am listening to alot of older fado, especially Ercília de Costa (http://lisboanoguiness.blogs.sapo.pt/69916.html), and fado that is somewhat later, like Alfredo Marceneiro. I think my listening was spurred on by something I read (probably in Vitor Marceneiro's fantastic blog) that saudade now is not what is was "then". When I listen to 'Lisboa Antiga' or any of the other poems that talk about Lisbon in the 1950s or earlier, I think this sentiment makes sense. The amount of cynicism and opportunism surrounding the fado in the popular press (actually starting way back) as well as in day-to-day life is really something. If I can be a bit cynical myself for a moment, I suppose it's easy to say anything you want about fado and its history when there is very little scholarship relative to the significance of the music in everyday life. Perhaps there is a decent biography of Amália to be found somewhere (I am pretty sure there is not one of Fernando Maurício, and I haven't gotten a copy of Marceneiro's)--but really, is that all there is?! At a later date I'll post some pointers to recent publications on the fado. Perhaps we are on the verge of a serious bit of attention paid to "fado fado".

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