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CD Review
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Times, CD Review >>
Transparente (World Connection/EMI) As the most exciting young name currently gracing the world music scene, the Portuguese diva Mariza has been under intense pressure to go down the crossover route.
Her third album, Transparente, is her first for EMI, and it is no secret that there were senior voices within the record company pushing for superstar duets with Sting and Peter Gabriel, and for her to sing in English. To her credit, Mariza has resisted all such blandishments. Although Transparente was recorded in Brazil, its 14 gem-like songs remain true to the deepest traditions of fado. the breathtakingly lyrical and melancholic music of Portugal. The exquisite, chamber-like string arrangements of the Brazilian composer Jacques Morelenbaum are an innovation. But the links between Portuguese and Brazilian music are so strong that the fusion is entirely unforced and natural.
With maturity Mariza is singing better than ever, and the slight tendency to shrillness, previously the only flaw in her voice, has now disappeared. In its place come greater nuance and subtlety, particularly evident on the sublime Medo and the dramatic Duas Lagrimas de Orvalho. ft may only be April, but it is already safe to predict that Transparente will be a leading contender for world music album of the year.
-NW 04/23/05
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