It was in the Estoril Casino’s Black and Silver Room that, last Saturday, January 28, the 1st Fado Gala took place, whose intention is to make known the new voices of Fado, “Os Putos do Fado”.
Diana Vilarinho, Tiago Correia, Marta Alves, Beatriz Felício, and José Geadas, were the young fado singers chosen for this 1st Fado Gala.
All fado singers, each one with their particularity, with their voice, with their emotions, their versatility.
Sponsoring this event was Lenita Gentil, a renowned fado singer, with a competent and powerful voice, probably the only one capable of singing to a sold-out room, as was the Salão Preto e Prata at Casino Estoril, without the ‘help’ of a microphone.
That night, themes such as ‘O Final de uma Canção’ e Quadras Soltas (Fado Idanha), ‘Três Vidas e um Coração’, ‘Lisboa Cidade’, ‘Rua da Lembrança’, ‘Saudade vai-te Embora’, ‘Os Brincos’, ‘Rua dos Meus Ciúmes’, ‘Conversa de Poetas’, ‘Fado Corrido’ ao estilo de Manuel Correia, ‘Sol Nulo dos Dias Vãos’, ‘Estranha Contradição’ (fado Azenha), ‘Carmencita’.
The musical direction and brain of this 1st ‘Putos do Fado’ Gala is Ângelo Freire, who, when introducing the artists, tells us ‘that he knows them all personally, I have a friendship with them, they are all very special’.
Ângelo Freire also mentions that ‘Fado does not live on music alone, but on fantastic poetry, on the incredible lyricists we have, so for this Gala, I asked a great friend, Francisco Guimarães, to write 6 original songs to be sung by young fadistas.’
Rodrigo Correia on double bass, Bernardo Saldanha on viola de fado and Ângelo Freire on Guitarra Portuguesa were the service musicians, dispensing with any presentations.
When the curtain fell, in what was an excellent night of good Portuguese music, all together on stage, sang ‘Fado Pechincha’, all showing that fado is and will continue to be alive, fado that is, Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
