Cristiná Branco

Cristiná Branco, unlike many other Portuguese fado singers, was raised in Almeirim rather than in Lisbon, the birthplace of fado. Born in 1972, Branco is a member of the Portuguese generation that came of age in the wake of the 1974 revolution, and it comes as no surprise that, like many young people of her generation, she was mainly interested in pop, folk, jazz and Brazilian bossa nova. For the young Branco, fado was old news.

When fado did catch her fancy, during her late teens, it came to Branco in the best possible way – via the great Amália Rodrigues and her album Rara e Inédita. Rodrigues' music, full of romance and longing, was an epiphany for Branco. She understood the genre for what it was – a moving, emotionally profound blending of music and poetry that speaks to soul of Portugal.

Branco was a student at the time, aspiring to a career in journalism. But she began to devote more time and energy to fado, honing her vocal skills while delving into the formidable corpus of fado tradition. Despite her fascination with the music—and the fact that she was performing the music in local fado venues—Branco did not record her first record until 1996 and, in an unusual debut, the disc was a live recording tracked in Holland.

Branco subsequently released her initial studio album, Murmúrios, in 1999.
Branco has released five records since then, including her groundbreaking 2001 release Corpo Iluminado, and 2005's Ulisses. Her recordings explore the headier, more intellectual side of the music - often adapting the work of contemporary European poets as the texts of her compositions - and rely heavily on the deft arrangements of her collaborator guitarist/songwriter Custódio Castelo.

Since her debut Bracno has become a noted fadista in Portugal and Europe—and is especially popular in the Netherlands. She's also made some inroads in North America, touring and releasing albums in the U.S. regularly. As her career has blossomed, she has taken her place alongside Mariza in the front ranks of contemporary Portuguese fadistas, and her work provides a thoughtful counterpoint to the sometimes outsized theatrics of her contemporaries. —Phllip Van Vleck