No one actually knows how fado began, but theories are as numerous as the strings on the guitarra. Opposing authorities on Portuguese music assert that it is of Moorish, African, Brazilian or Spanish origin. Fair guesses all of them and no doubt it is an amalgam of all influences since time immemorial. But one fact is certain, that there were fado singers of world renown in the 19th century, and one “severa” was the subject of a recent play in which Amalia took the title role Amalia also won an award in her native Portugal for her performance in the film “A Fado Singer’s History”, a story closely resembling her own life. Internationally, her most important film was in French, “Les Amants du Tage”, in which she sang “Solidão” (known in England as Song of the Sea) and became a tremendous hit throughout Europe. However, nothing could surpass the success of an early record, “Coimbra” (April In Portugal), which was recorded in every European and Asian language. It was this song which really brought Amalia international acclaim and her successes in South America and Europe were crowned with an unforgettable triumph at the “Olympia” in Paris, where accompanied only by guitar and Portuguese guitarra, she held this critical audience spellbound for nearly an hour. Even in the U.S.A., a difficult country for foreign singers, she was highly acclaimed.
