Amália Rodrigues
Amália Rodrigues was a Portuguese fado singer. She grew up very poor and had to work multiple jobs in order to help support her family. She began her singing career in 1939 at the age of 19. Her career was extensive and she won 3 Best Artist Portugal awards - the only person to have ever won 3. Amália was also an actress and won Portugal’s Best Film Actress twice. She spoke and sang in 5 languages and loved poetry, Early Grey tea, and her grey parrot (who is still alive and will sometimes call for her). She also loved people and hosting at her home. It is said that if you knocked on her door and told her you liked her music, she would invite you in for dinner! Amália didn’t sing for the last time until 1994, making her career over 50 years long. She continues to be the best selling Portuguese artist of all time.
Amália Rodrigues changed the landscape of fado. Her music popularized fado not only in Portugal, but all around the world, making it something that was accessible and appealing to all. She has become sort of a symbol for Portugal, which has given her some (most likely unwanted) political influence in the past, that caused some negative public opinion. When Salazar was prime minister, he used her as an image of how Portugal supported freedom and individuality. In reality, nobody could speak their minds during his regime. Eventually she overcame the fascist allegations and the people of Portugal re accepted her and gave their support.
I think that Amália has been commemorated beautifully. Her music is still world renowned and she is revered by the people of Portugal and others around the world for her contributions to fado and the music she created. Her wishes for her estate to become a museum were executed wonderfully. Her home is a place for people to come and learn about her and fado. She also has a garden named after her as commemoration. I think that this is also perfect for her because at her house we learned that she loved flowers and the outdoors. Overall I think that Portugal has done a stunning job of remembering Amália, or as they call her: the voice of Portugal, the Queen of Fado.
I’m looking forward to looking up some fado music online. I’ve never heard of it before. It’s nice to see a woman who seems to be getting the recognition she deserves. Not surprising that it was someone in the entertainment industry. I wish that women that have been influential in less glamorous settings could also be recognized more publicly.
ReplyDeleteSuper amazing post Lilly as always! Learning about Amalia has been so interesting and I think it really shows what is important to the people and culture in Lisbon. The fact that her house is preserved and her songs are still getting sung around the city shows that she is really important to them and her contributions to Fado music helped to make Lisbon a cultural capital.
ReplyDeleteAaah lilly how I adore you and what you write! Amalia was truly so amazing. I found the stuff they mentioned on the tour about how she was made a symbol by the dictatorship at the time, and how she fought back against it, was so so interesting! It's really interesting to think about all the adverse ways women are objectified, deified or made out to be allegories, even in the present, like what Amalia experienced.
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