Amália na América – Além do Fado

A Universal Portugal.

In 1952, Amália Rodrigues won over American audiences when she sang at the La Vie en Rose nightclub in New York. Her success was renewed at prestigious venues such as the Hollywood Bowl, Lincoln Centre and Carnegie Hall.

Amália's repertoire in the USA combined traditional fados, Frederico Valério's fado-songs, traditional Portuguese songs and Broadway and Hollywood hits. In 1965, she recorded two albums: Amália Canta Portugal, with traditional songs orchestrated by Joaquim Luís Gomes, and Amália na Broadway, released in 1984, with themes from the Great American Songbook.

In 1966, she was a soloist in symphonic concerts with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, performing traditional Portuguese songs and fados, to great acclaim.

Amália had a chameleon-like ability to capture the accents and interpretative traits of each language and tradition. This programme pays homage to the bridges of affection she built with America, affirming her universal Portugueseness, echoing Miguel Torga: "the universal is the local without walls." - Rui Vieira Nery