Fado Route

11 June 1913 - 29 May 1982 (Composer)

Frederico Valério composed an enormous number of songs that became classics of the fado genre. At the beginning of the 1940s, he began to work professionally with Amália, for whom he composed some of her greatest successes, such as "Ai Mouraria" and "Fado Malhoa". After establishing himself in Portugal, he went to America in the late '40s and managed to get one of his songs onto the hit parade and composed two musicals for Broadway. During his international career, he recorded music that achieved success in Brazil, America, Germany, France and Britain. 

6 November 1983 (Singer)

Is it possible to be born a fado singer? Gisela João is proof that it is. Born and raised in Barcelos, in the north of Portugal, she later moved to Porto, far from the world of fado. As a very young girl, however, she started to hum the songs she heard on the radio and before she knew it was singing at a fado house in Porto, before repeating the feat in Lisbon. Wherever she goes, she charms audiences. And when she recorded her first album, it was immediately acclaimed as a landmark in the history of fado. Some say fado is split between what came before and what came after Gisela João...

23 October 1907 - 13 June 1993 (Singer)

Extremely popular, she was known for her gift for improvisation and good-humour. Multi-talented, besides being a fado singer she also worked in musical theatre and cinema. As a singer, she always had an unmistakable approach, both in the way she performed fado and in her stage presence. She was one of the most emblematic figures in "fado castiço", or pure fado.

15 April 1945 (Singer)

As a teenager he had a passion for bossa-nova, jazz and rock'n'roll, which he never lost throughout his life. But fado became so intrinsic that it ended up defining his career, something that was not planned. All of these musical influences have made João Braga a demanding fado singer. His repertoire includes the best composers and poets such as Fernando Pessoa and Manuel Alegre. He is one of the main influences behind the drive to modernise fado by encouraging new talent.

15 July 1893 - 19 August 1965 (Lyricist)

He wrote the lyrics for over 3,000 songs, all of a quality that would earn him the status of "major figure in the history of fado". Besides being a talented poet, he was a major advocate of the fado singer's career. In 1922, he founded the newspaper "Guitarra de Portugal", a periodical that became one of the most iconic publications in the specialist press.