Artist Bio:
Amália de Piedade Rodrigues, the most acclaimed singer in the history of fado, was born in the Alcântara district of Lisbon in 1920 to parents who had recently arrived in Lisbon from Fundão. Her father was a trumpet player and a cobbler who tried to make a life for his family in Lisbon, only to return to Fundão when Amália was 14 months old. Amália remained with her grandparents in Lisbon.
Rodrigues spent about 13 years living with her grandparents, returning to live with her parents at age 14 when they moved back to Lisbon. Her childhood was spent in relative poverty, though she seems to have thrived on the music that poured from the family radio and spilled from the clubs and taverns into the streets of her working-class Lisbon neighborhood.
It is widely reported that Rodrigues sang beautifully even as a child, and this certainly has the ring of truth to it. Her love of music surely came to her early and encouraged her innate talent, given her professional debut in 1939, at age 19, at Retiro da Severa, a fado house in Lisbon. A year later she was singing at another fado house, Solar da Alegria, under an exclusive contract.
Rodrigues' popularity in Lisbon grew exponentially during the years of World War II. Portugal was officially neutral during the war, though Lisbon was filled with intrigue, spies and political sympathizers of every ilk. In 1943 Rodrigues marked her international debut in Madrid, and her enthusiastic reception foretold a brilliant and enduring international career.
By 1949 Rodrigues's albums were in the racks in 16 countries and she was the musical sensation of the Iberian Peninsula as well as Brazil. During '49 she also performed for the first time in London and Paris. In 1950 concerts were being staged in Europe in association with the Marshall Plan, the U.S. program to facilitate the rebuilding of countries devastated by the war. Rodrigues took the stage in Berlin and then again at the Argentina Opera House in Rome. In both instances, accompanied in typical fado fashion by only a pair of guitarists, her stunning voice and the beauty of fado triumphed.
Rodrigues sang in Mexico and New York City in 1954, and this is also the beginning of her mature work. She began to sing fado in a more audacious fashion, embracing the work of composers such as Frederico Valério, Raul Ferrão and Frederico de Freitas, as well as indulging her interest in singing flamenco. Drawn to more complex melodic structures and opening up her interpretive phrasing, Rodrigues also tapped into the wonderful poetic tradition of Portugal, and poet David Mourão wrote for her.
During the 1960s Portugal was in turmoil. The fascist regime of Salazar collected political prisoners and forced many artists into exile. Rodrigues remained, however, donating funds to help political prisoners and singing fados of dissent. The Salazar government proscribed the sale of "Peniche Fado," her song for the dissenters. Rodrigues also returned to the U.S. in 1966, performing in venues such as Lincoln Center and the Hollywood Bowl. Back in Portugal she continued to reprise the work of left-wing poets. In 1969 she received a decoration from Salazar's successor, Marcello Caetano, at the Brussell's World Fair—a rather incongruous moment, given Rodrigues's political sentiments. She also performed in Russia that same year.
The April Revolution of 1975 finally ended the fascist regime in Portugal, and in 1980 the Portuguese government recognized Rodrigues with the Official Degree of the Order of Prince Henry, the Navigator. Rodrigues died October 6, 1999, in Lisbon. Her passing was the most heart-breaking fado of all for her fans. —Phillip Van Vleck
