With Mariza in concert comes the Fado Festival

It was at sea that a good part of the history of Portugal was written, the western end of the Iberian Peninsula, condemned to sail to earn a living and ensure a difficult independence. Ó mar salgado, quanto do teu sal / são lágrimas de Portugal, exclaimed Fernando Pessoa. Fishing and voyages through seas never before sailed took their toll: farewells, separations, melancholy, saudade. Themes, all of them, that fado sings and that on November 15 can be enjoyed at the 2nd International Fado Festival in Mexico and the 12th edition worldwide.

Since its first realization in Madrid, in 2012, every year this musical festival takes place in important cities in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia. In 2022 Mexico will be the first point of an extensive tour that will reach seventeen cities on four continents, many of them cities with ports. United by the sea and now also by fado.

The Mexican stage will be the Teatro de la Ciudad Esperanza Iris, with a concert by Mariza Dos Reis Nunes or just Mariza, one of the most applauded stars on the world music circuit. A true ambassador of fado, taking it down bold new paths, never losing sight of her soul.

The 2nd International Fado Festival in Mexico is the largest international fado show. An event that promotes this music outside of Portugal and disseminates the Lusophone language and culture. Also an opportunity for the affirmation of Portuguese artists in the international music scene and the possibility of captivating audiences interested in the cultural richness of the world.

In addition to Mariza’s magnificent concert, the day dedicated to Fado includes a lecture by Fado musicologist David Ferreira, author of numerous courses on the history of Portuguese popular music, various compilations published on records, a researcher especially interested in the work of Amália Rodrigues, to whom he dedicated a series of 197 radio programs, during the artist’s centenary celebration. A radio host, for 24 years he was CEO of the largest Portuguese record label (EMI-Valentim de Carvalho); he has worked with countless singers, fadistas, musicians, and composers. He is also the son of the poet David Mourão-Ferreira, one of the most sung authors in fado, especially by Amália and Camané.

David Ferreira’s talk, “Saudades da terra firme. The fado and the sea”, will also be this Tuesday, November 15 at 11:00 a.m., in the Miguel de la Torre Carbó Auditorium of the Faculty of Higher Studies FES Acatlán-UNAM. He will remember the birth of fado in the lament of a sad sailor who sang. Many have been the authors and voices that have sung to the sea, because of the mark it leaves on dry land, in the sky or in the flight of a seagull. Because the sea creates, brings closer, transforms. It is no coincidence that so many popular music (fado, tango, Neapolitan song, etc.) were born in ports in the century where long-distance transport intensified, at sea.

At the end of the conference, the documentary Fado, directed by Sofia from Portugal and Aurélio Vasques, will be screened. Explain what fado is from the point of view of the maker of this music. From the composer to the guitarist, going through who sings it and who studies it. Through testimonials, he explains the invisible, the inner side of fado. Both events are free.

And to culminate, directly from the Museu do Fado, El fado y el mar arrives in Mexico, the most representative exhibition of this musical genre, a world heritage site, which will be on display until November 20.

Mariza concert, at the Teatro de la Ciudad Esperanza Iris. Tuesday, November 15 at 8:30 p.m. Tickets on sale at the theater and at Ticketmaster.

Did you know?

“Fado, popular urban song of Portugal”, was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, by UNESCO, in 2011.