Lisbon: Amália Rodrigues

We have learned that Amália Rodrigues is an important woman in Portuguese history. We visited her home and there I learned she lived from 1920 to 1999 and is known as the Queen of Fado.  Fado is a form of music from Lisbon which consists of a fadista, the singer, and a guitarist playing a 12-string Portuguese guitar. It is emotional, somewhat sad music where the lyrics are about heartbreak, the life of the poor, etc. I learned that Amália grew up poor so I’m sure she knew a lot about that with her life experiences. I learned that she is still the highest selling Portuguese singer ever. She had started out poor and grew into an international star, touring around the world. 

 

Amália Rodrigues’ contribution is important because she took a genre of music that was specific to a small region of the world and brought it to an international level. Fado was not a type of music known outside of Portugal. But I learned from https://www.museudofado/ that Amalia Rodrigues became so popular in Lisbon that she then went to Brazil to perform, and then around Europe and the United States. She appeared on television many times which made her even more well known. It was also not common for a woman to gain such global attention during the 1950’s and 60’s. She broke through gender barriers as well.

 

I feel that Amália Rodrigues is commemorated well in Lisbon. Her home was made into a museum that holds her costumes, dresses, shoes and jewelry as well as all the decor and furnishings she had there. We were able to go to her home/museum. I liked seeing all of her furniture and especially her jewelry. Touring her home was like an intimate look into her life. I think touring her home and learning more about who she was is a great way to celebrate her.