Mariza: 'When I'm singing, I am inside the story'

By Hiram Soto

Fado is about feelings.

So expect feeling a strong, raw longing inside when you listen to this blues-like music from Portugal. Expect nostalgia and sadness, love and happiness. It doesn't matter if you don't speak Portuguese, because it's all about passion and melancholy, and that's what Portuguese singer Mariza brings to the stage when she sings.

Mariza performs tonight at the Embarcadero Marina Park South downtown, where she is expected to sing songs from her latest album Concerto em Lisboa, a live recording of her 2005 historic concert in Lisbon in front of 25,000 people. The show is part of the San Diego Symphony's Summer Pops series.

“When I'm singing, I am inside the story,” says the 33-year-old fado sensation known for her elegant voice and passionate interpretations of this dramatic musical genre.

Born in Mozambique but raised in Lisbon, Mariza has become the new face of fado, performing in some of the most prestigious venues in the world. Her U.S. tour ends with a show at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles.

It's easy to fall for fado, which was born in the early 1800s. It features Portuguese guitars but can also include a string quartet or a full orchestra like the San Diego Symphony. The beats can be soft and the lyrics mournful and aching. But they can also be joyful and upbeat.

It's usually sung in poorly lit Portuguese tabernas, where people sing and drink red wine.

That's how Mariza grew up. Her parents (her father is from Portugal and mother from Mozambique) were not well-off, so they could not provide her with music lessons. But they had a taberna, and that's all she needed.

“That's how I started singing fado,” she said. “I started working there since I was 5 years old until I was a teenager, which is when I decided to start my life and start singing.”

She has enjoyed plenty of success since then.

She released her first album in 2001, Fado em Mim (“Fado in Me”), which went platinum several times. She has also performed in concert venues in England, where in 2003 she won the best new world music artist award by BBC Radio 3.

She has been performing tirelessly in the U.S., expanding her fan base from New York to Los Angeles and San Diego. After seven years of performances here, she says she feels confident people are starting to know her.

“It's amazing,” she said. “Sometimes I feel people (in the U.S.) are not just going to a fado concert, but they go to see me as a singer because now they know my work, what I have been doing, my records.”

She pointed to a concert she was to perform with singer Eugenia León, who was unable to sing at the last minute, leaving Mariza on her own. “People knew Eugenia was not performing, but they still showed up and received me very warmly,” she said in an accented English, a language she learned while attending public school in Portugal.

After the tour ends in November, Mariza plans to return to Portugal to begin work on a new album. But for now, she is focused on having a successful tour and wants to make sure her fellow Portuguese come out and see her.

“There are a lot of Portuguese people in San Diego, and I certainly hope they come and enjoy the music of their country,” she said.