Organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC), the 29th Macao Arts Festival (MAF) presents the “Fado Concert” by the Macao Chinese Orchestra, featuring Portuguese fado singers Mísia and Pedro Moutinho, on 31 May at 8:00pm at the Macao Cultural Centre Grand Auditorium. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the conductor Liu Sha will not perform in the Fado Concert as planned, and the concert will be led by maestro Wang Fujian and the programme will remain unchanged.
Mísia is a contemporary Portuguese singer who is widely celebrated for the timeless and universal sentiments, which are part of her songs sung not only in her native language but also in many other languages. Countless awards and distinctions, hundreds of thousands of records sold all over the world illustrate well the importance of this artist into the history of Fado, and in the Portuguese music in general, past and future. The desire to offer a gift “For Amália” was felt by Mísia after more than 20 years of building a repertoire and a sonority of her own, in complicity with the greatest writers, poets and Portuguese musicians. In celebration of timeless and universal feelings, not only in Portuguese but also in various other languages, Mísia is the Portuguese singer that awakens a higher international cult, by seeing her work recognized with praising reviews in the most relevant publications in the worldwide press, namely the Billboard and Gramaphone magazines or newspapers like The New York Times, Libération, Die Zeigt, The Washington Post and The Independent. Mísia was awarded the important Amália Rodrigues Prize in 2012.
It is said that “birds of a feather flock together”, and it is understandable this popular saying would be applied to Pedro Moutinho. After all, this remarkable singer comes from what is probably the first family of contemporary Portuguese Fado. His brothers are Camané, the singer whose impeccable career has become the standard by which all others are judged; and Hélder Moutinho, singer, lyricist, producer, one of the most versatile and admired of all current Fado singers. By now, however, Pedro Moutinho has enough of a career of his own that it is unfair to compare him to his brothers. Three studio albums into his career and with one Amália Award under his belt, Pedro has already proved he is blazing his own path, his own way. Of course, there are points in common. The passion for Fado, the national melancholy song that Pedro has been singing since he was 11; the perfectionism, the rigorous presence, giving constantly all of himself in each show or recording. But Pedro has his own sensibility, and his voice and intensity have carved a specific, and well-deserved, niche for him in the current panorama of Fado.
The concert’s programme features fados such as “Fado Adivinha”, “Fogo Preso”“Lágrima”, “Tive um Coração, Perdi-o”, “Garras dos Sentidos”, “Ao Deus Dará”, “Veio a Saudade”, “Alfama”, and many others.
Due to the change of conductor, spectators who wish to return the tickets can request the respective refund at the Macau Ticketing Network from 17 May to 31 May by presenting the intact tickets. Only a limited number of tickets are available for this concert, and the public is advised to purchase their tickets as soon as possible. For more information about the concert, ticket purchase and discounts, please check the 29th Macao Arts Festival Booklet (the booklet PDF version can be downloaded at www.icm.gov.mo/fam), follow the MAF’s page on Facebook or subscribe to IC’s WeChat account. Ticketing hotline: 2855 5555. Online ticket reservation: www.macauticket.com.