Fado--Portugal's sweet sad music
Back in 2009 we bought tickets for an overnight trip to Lisbon. The tickets included an overnight at the Mundial hotel, an evening of Fado and a walk-about the next day.
Our bus picked us up around 7:30 and we climbed up and up to what I now know was the Barrio Alto. We walked along a lane and spent the next 3 hours being entertained by four Fado singers and players of both guitarra and guitar.
I was hooked. I liked the feel of the music that was distinctly the older style of Fado. Since then I have found several variants that I suppose one would refer to as modern Fado.
In the next two journal entries we have the different forms. First Anna Mouro with the Fado you will hear in all of the clubs in Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, etc. Usually just a guitarra (12 strings); a guitar and possibly one more instrument. The second is a style made popular by Mariza that features a full orchestra and a style not possible in an intimate club setting. Mariza sings 'Chuva' or rain. You will hear the word cidade over and over again. Any word ending in dada is 'city'. So university is universadade. Much of Portuguese is similar such a 'viagem' with gem being the common suffix.
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