The unrivaled queen of the Portuguese fado, Amália Rodrigues

January 27, 2009 2:52 PM

"Upon receiving news of her passing, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres ordered three days of national mourning, declaring her "the Voice of Portugal."

Don't take my word for it.

Listen to that voice.

posted by Joe Beese (13 comments total)

John Updike, and now this? This has been a bad two decades.
posted by found missing at 3:05 PM on January 27 [1 favorite has favorites]

Looking at your headline, Joe Beese, I knew immediately that it was Amália. Truly one of the great, great voices. Like a bell, as they say.

You can hear 6 tunes from Amália Rodrigues at her MySpace page.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:07 PM on January 27 [1 favorite has favorites]

Here's something that occurred to me once: if Amália Rodrigues had been born in Virginia, she would've been Patsy Cline. If Patsy Cline had been born in Portugal, she would've been Amália Rodrigues.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:12 PM on January 27 [2 favorites has favorites]

Oh I love her work so much. Such a voice.
posted by nola at 3:26 PM on January 27 [1 favorite has favorites]

Damn. She'll be missed. Have loved her singing for a long time.
posted by Coyote Crossing at 3:38 PM on January 27 [1 favorite has favorites]

And, reading the linked post, I see I'm about 9 years late with that "damn." Oops.
posted by Coyote Crossing at 3:44 PM on January 27

For clarification: she died on Oct 6, 1999 in Lisbon, Portugal. There's a very long bio here, and a wiki-link for good measure.
posted by filthy light thief at 5:01 PM on January 27 [1 favorite has favorites]

I apologize for creating confusion. Obviously, this wasn't meant as breaking news. I just thought that conclusion to the AllMusic biography was the starkest demonstration of what a musical giant she was.

I suppose Aretha Franklin is the nearest equivalent we have - and even her death wouldn't occasion an official decree like that.
posted by Joe Beese at 5:13 PM on January 27

Pumpuang Duangchan is the closest equivalent, but you'd have to be Thai to get it.
posted by fourcheesemac at 5:16 PM on January 27 [1 favorite has favorites]

fourcheesemac: "Pumpuang Duangchan is the closest equivalent, but you'd have to be Thai to get it."

So far, I've only been able to surmise that she died before her time. In the absence of a Wikipedia article - at least under that spelling - I'm going to have to assume on the basis of the clothes worn at 1:05 in this video that she was a member of their equivalent of Bananarama.

[And in passing, thanks for your amazing contributions to this thread - which I only just came across.]
posted by Joe Beese at 5:29 PM on January 27

Joe Besse: In the absence of a Wikipedia article - at least under that spelling...

Your wikipedia article can be found here. A 'translated' version can be found here.
posted by el io at 6:45 PM on January 27

The reigning queen of fado: Mariza. In concert here.
posted by rdone at 8:44 PM on January 27 [1 favorite has favorites]

Beautiful voice, yes, but I actually prefer Sónia Tavares of The Gift, who is arguably the queen of Portuguese altrock.

World-class performers with an attitude... surprised they haven't really broken through in the U.S. yet.
posted by markkraft at 6:48 AM on January 28 [1 favorite has favorites]