Society 379

Fado – the soul
of Portugal
As the sound of destiny, of longing, the
untranslatable saudade, the music genre
Fado has been part of the Portuguese
cultural identity for more than 200 years.
The famous Portuguese Fadista
Carminho gave SOCIETY an insight into
her personal Fado world.
Out of the original Fado houses in Lisbon
with their dimmed rooms lit only
by candlelight, Maria do Carmo de
Carvalho Rebelo de Andrade, known
as Carminho, brings Fado to stages
around the world. Born in Lisbon on
August 20th 1984, she grew up in the
south of Portugal, her mother Teresa
Siqueira being a famous Fado singer
herself. “As there are no traditional
Fado houses in the south, my mother
used to host Fado sessions at our
home, so I grew up being surrounded
by musicians and I experienced
this special atmosphere since a very
young age”, Carminho remembers
in the interview with SOCIETY. The
now 36-year old sang Fado before she
even spoke Portuguese, today it is her
preferred way of expression, her way of
communicating emotions.
THE ORIGINS OF FADO
The music genre Fado can be traced
back to the 1820s, where it developed
in the poorest neighbourhoods close
to the ports of Lisbon, though there
are numerous other theories about its
exact origins. What’s sure about Fado
Photos: Mariana Maltoni
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