A Night Of Fado

fadistas in Maia

I always recommend visitors to see traditional fado in Lisbon, but as of yet I have not seen fado in Lisbon… but it’s on my long overdue, ever-growing Lisbon List!

Until then, I’ll see it where it is convenient and this time we were able to see five fadistas in one Friday evening: (photo, L-R) Vitor Silva, Conceição Silva, D. Oliveira, Isabel Borges, and António Terra, accompanied by Adão Pereira on the guitarra and Joana Almeida on the viola (yes, in Portugal it’s a type of guitar, not a type of violin).

It’s worth noting that the musicians hadn’t played together before, and the fadistas made their song choices on the spot, by turning around and telling the musicians. No rehearsals, lots of improvisation. It’s also worth noting that Adão Pereira is 86 years old and he played alongside Joana Almeida the whole evening with only one proper interval and another short break…

Music: keeping people young since time immemorial.

Anyway, I took a little two person poll (me, Paulo), and our favourite fadista was the same: Conceição Silva, with some favourite songs between the other fadistas. (Paulo loves to sing along, too, it’s fun to watch him.) The mobile video clips I shot of Sra. Silva were too far away and too dark to be of interest, so I direct you to her YouTube channel to view some of her performances.

Live fado can be quite moving. It reminds me of the sea and I can imagine writers of fado tunes staring off at the waves as they create the soulful music. I’ve seen different styles of fado singing, from traditional to modern, up close in a fado house, performed in a garden and on stages at Cais de Fado. I have yet to see the Coimbra style in person, often performed by university students in Coimbra. So far, I’m still a bit partial to the traditional style that originated in Lisbon, but I’m also a fan of the Portuguese guitars, and perfectly happy to listen to the instruments without the voices.

TIP: If you’re visiting Portugal for the first time, try and catch the traditional fado in a tasca (note: they’re very small) in Lisbon rather than a tourist fado restaurant (note: they’re very expensive). Although Alfama is the neighbourhood of fado and my friend says to avoid the so-called fado restaurants in Bairro Alto, the one exception to this local’s rule is Tasca do Chico, a tavern that has fado on Mondays and Wednesdays starting at 21:00.