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A conversation with Mariza: Fado superstar comes to Z tonight
Editor's note: Mariza, a fado singer who is an international superstar, will give concerts tonight at 8 and Sunday at 7 p.m. at the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center. Born in Mozambique, Mariza Reis Nunes, 34, grew up in the heart of fado culture in Lisbon. Staff writer Joao Ferreira interviewed her via e-mail.
Q: This is your first performance in New Bedford, an area with a large Portuguese community. How is it to sing for the Portuguese abroad?
A: The Portuguese are always welcome to my shows, and their presence creates a very characteristic ambiance, more "fadista," above all more Portuguese. I've been wanting to perform in New Bedford for a while; a place with many Portuguese people is similar to other places where I have performed in the past, such as Toronto or Newark, for example. The Portuguese abroad are very "fadista," they yearn for their culture more, they're prouder of their language, of their motherland, and it's very good to be cherished like that.
Q: You are often compared to Amalia Rodrigues, the greatest fado innovator. How do you see yourself innovating fado? What would you tell those people who say that fado should remain traditional? What is your opinion about the current generation of Portuguese fadistas?
A: Fado is an urban genre and it's always moving. Traditional fado is very important, we need to preserve that very valuable asset, and knowledge of fado needs to start there. It's essential it does. In regards to certain fundamentalism I think you are referring to, I can only say that there will always be fundamentalism in everything — we face it daily, usually in the news. I don't think fundamentalism is positive in any way!
Fado is doing well, very well indeed, with new voices surfacing every day, bringing new perspectives to fado, and that gives it life. Some years ago people would ask you if fado would end! As you say around here, "I don't think so!!!"
Q: You often say that fado doesn't have to be sad. Are you trying to put a positive spin on fado for international audiences who may think melancholic equals boring?
A: That's a very good question, as well as a great observation, thanks. That's it, fado's sadness should only be communicated on stage, and everyone feels it in a different way. The publicity that the music is sad can become negative, but that can be happy sadness, coming from someone who has cried from laughing too much, who has laughed from crying too much!? Fado is feeling, all the feelings, life's feelings, of all lives. When foreign journalists say that fado is sad I submit, in order to break that perception, that like one fado says "the fame sometimes defames."
Q: This show comes on the heels of the release of "Concerto em Lisboa" in the U.S. Can you tell me a bit about that CD?
A: "Concerto em Lisboa" was recorded live in the gardens of the Tower of Belem in Lisbon — my city — after a memorable concert also recorded on DVD. This is the place where the Portuguese vessels sailed off to discover the world. It was a very emblematic night that marked me. The audience, made up of different generations and ethnic groups, took over the garden, singing and following each magic moment in one my most important performances, one in which Jaques Morelenbaum directed the Orquestra Sinfonietta de Lisboa before more than 25,000 people.
Q: What can your fans expect for your shows tonight and tomorrow night?
A: People can expect an acoustic, more intimate performance, so I will be accompanied by a Portuguese guitar, fado viola, bass viola and percussion, without the additional strings quartet. The choice for an "acoustic and intimate" version is borne from my intention to differentiate the sonority from my previous tours. Besides that, the acoustic format means a return to the origins for me, to the initial way I began singing, and the outcome is greater involvement and intimacy with the public. As far as the repertory, as in my latest CD "Concerto em Lisboa," I will use the new arrangements created for this tour.
Tickets are priced at $55, $50, $47, and $44. Call (508) 994-2900 or visit www.zeiterion.org 10/06/07 >> go there
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