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“Fado” is Portuguesefor “fate,” but it’s also a musical genre that has been calledwith goodreasonPortugal’sblues for its lower-caste origins and bittersweet lyrics of hope andmisfortune.
Ana Moura has becomeone of fado’s bright young voices, the person Mick Jagger wants to sing withwhen the Stones tour Portugal.Although she got her start singing rock, she isn’t interested in forcingoutside influences onto fado; rather, in her hands, the broodingly liltingmusic remains entirely true to tradition while the lyrics assume responsibilityfor addressing timeless themes from a contemporary perspective. Accompanied byan acoustic trio, featuring fado’s distinctive instrument, the 12-stringguitarra, Moura’s bell-clear voice expresses many shades of emotional nuance.We need no bilingual phrase book to understand her feelings.
