Guitarist Bernardo Couto presented his first album at the CCB, to an audience of friends and connoisseurs, some of the best performers of the Portuguese guitar, fado guitar and bass guitar, were present at this concert, in which the Portuguese guitar and the compositions of Bernardo were the stars.
In the words of Bernardo Couto, “The idea of this concert is to present to the public the work that the violist Bernardo Saldanha and I dedicated ourselves to during almost the entire confinement. I want to leave a contribution, my personal contribution, to the guitar repertoire of Lisbon, with the sole purpose that they may one day be played by the city’s guitarists, thus becoming part of this musical heritage where I belong.”
He also added, “The biggest challenge of this project of ten guitars was, from the beginning, to compose something that was in the “language” of the Fado singer of Lisbon but that, at the same time, revealed its own stamp. Only time and the audience will say whether that goal has been achieved.”
Bernardo Couto was accompanied on stage by his friend Bernardo Saldanha, in this show sponsored by the Fado Museum, the author confesses that fado gave him a lot, and he took the opportunity to thank the audience for their presence, but also his uncle, José Campos e Sousa who should be a guitarist, and in the case of Bernardo Saldanha, his uncle Mário, both present at the concert.
The author and virtuoso of the Portuguese guitar, dedicated two themes to two very important people to him, “Fado Amélia” to his mother, Amélia, and “Toada Menor” to his master Carlos Gonçalves, both died during the pandemic, Bernardo Couto still studied with Paulo Parreira, Ricardo Rocha and Pedro Caldeira Cabral, who signs the arrangement of the song “Valsa de Petroline“, by guitarist Luís Carlos da Silva, born in Setúbal, who died in the late 1920s, known as ‘Petrolino‘, musician well known in his day and played in Russia before the October 1917 revolution.
“Guitarrada n.º 1”, “Vira de S. Domingos”, “Variações em mi menor”, “Corridinho de Arroios”, “Variações em Si”, “Variações JF”, “O Meu Corrido” were themes that were also heard at the concert that ended with Bernardo, visibly moved, he thanked the audience, family, and fado friends again, and mentions that he is delighted to be part of this community.
Bernardo Couto has already accompanied many artists such as Ana Moura, António Zambujo, Camané, Carminho, Cristina Branco, Mísia and Raquel Tavares, among others, he is also part of the LST – Lisboa String Trio – with guitarist José Peixoto and bassist Carlos Barretto, does part of the SUL group, with pianist Luís Figueiredo and bassist Bernardo Moreira, and works regularly with Argentine bandoneonist Martín Sued with regular performances at the fado house Mesa de Frades.
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