Amália da Piedade Rebordão Rodrigues (23 July 1920 – 6 October 1999) was a Portuguese fado singer (fadista). Dubbed Rainha do Fado ("Queen of Fado"), she was instrumental in popularising fado worldwide and travelled internationally throughout her career. Rodrigues remains the best-selling Portuguese artist in the history of recorded music. Rodrigues started singing around 1935. Her first professional engagement in a fado venue took place in 1939, and she was a guest in stage revues.[6] Around that time she met Frederico Valério, a classically trained composer who recognised her potential and composed numerous melodies for her, such as "Fado do Ciúme", "Ai Mouraria", "Que Deus Me Perdoe", and "Não Sei Porque Te Foste Embora". By the early 1940s, Rodrigues had become a famous singer in Portugal. She began acting with a debut film in 1946 titled Capas Negras, followed by her best known movie, Fado (1947). She gained popularity in Spain and Brazil, where she spent some time, and in Paris where she resided. In 1950, while performing at the Marshall Plan international benefit shows, she introduced the song "April in Portugal" to international audiences, under its original title "Coimbra". In the early 1950s, the involvement of Portuguese poet David Mourão-Ferreira marked a new phase in her career where leading poets were writing specifically for her.
This was really lovely! Great choice for this list. I think the biggest Portuguese musical artist in all of recorded music is worth the listen. A wonderful soundtrack to make a day back from a long weekend off tolerable!
Yess, more of this please 5
This is a best of album, so it's cheating a bit to add it to this user album list. Nevertheless I'm glad I had the pleasure to be introduced to the fado singer Amalia Rodrigues. She has a beautiful voice and the songs are great. Too bad the lyrics (in original language) are lost on me as I understand many of these are written by great poets.
Loved it, gave me a feeling of sitting in a smokey cafe at the end of WW2.
Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Fado portugues, Gaivota, Uma casa potuguesa
Sublime. 4 stars.
This is one of those albums I'm not really qualified to rate. This lady has a voice and a half, but this style is so far removed from anything I know it's almost unfair to give it a number. But I'm glad I heard it. The more upbeat numbers are a lot of fun. 4/5.
No context around this one, comps like this summarize an artist's contributions well, but pluck tracks from LPs randomly and remove any narrative elements a full album would give. Couple that with the sizable runtime here and a general dislike of singer-driven music and I can't say I'm a fan. Rodrigues is an excellent vocalist, but the instrumentals are so sparse and the songwriting so similar throughout that this felt like it took forever to finish.
I've loved Fado ever since Anthony Bourdain taught me about it. Sure this is a rule-breaking greatest hits album, but I'll take if over fucking Yoko Ono.
Fado. Venga, un 4, por lo folclórico de los vecinos.
Despite not grasping a word I can recognize a classic. Not something Id always be in the mood for but when I was I'd definitely be up for more of this.
Faso is not typically a genre I know well. Not my kind of thing, so it seems. It is culturally relevant, so that's a plus
Great voice
Good and different, could make room for this on the list. Just no idea what she’s singing about, but not sure you need to, to appreciate the music.
Since I don't speak the language (assuming Portuguese), I cannot speak to the story telling. Voice went well with the music
I don't really see the point of submitting compilations here. You're basically making the point that your favorite artist didn't actually make an album worth submitting. It also unmoors the music from any context in which it was made. No argument though, this is some really lovely music. Fave Songs: Maldicao, Nem as paredes confesso, Gaivota, Maria Lisboa, Fado Portugues, Primavera
This is nice
Great voice but not my thing
A nice album by a talented female singer. I’m guessing this album is like a best of compilation. The sound is much older than to be from 98. It’s a good album and very classic but it being in Portuguese prevents me from understanding the lyricism and that’s usually the strongest part of older music. 4.0/10