X-Nico

5 unusual facts about Amália Rodrigues


Alain Oulman

He was responsible for some of the biggest hits of Amália Rodrigues.

Amália Rodrigues

Amália did not shy away from controversy: her performance in Carlos Vilardebó’s 1964 arthouse film The Enchanted Islands was better received than the film, based on a short story by Herman Melville, and her 1965 recording of poems by 16th century poet Luís de Camões generated acres of newspaper polemics.

•

Its director, Bruno de Almeida, has also produced Amália, Live in New York City, a concert film of her 1990 performance at The Town Hall.

•

During the frenetic post-April 25, 1974 period she was falsely accused of being a covert agent of the PIDE, causing some trauma to her public life and career.

•

In the early fifties, the patronage of acclaimed Portuguese poet David Mourão-Ferreira marked the beginning of a new phase: Amália sang with many of the country's greatest poets, and some wrote lyrics specifically for her.


The Art of Amália

The Art of Amália is a documentary by Bruno de Almeida on the artistic career of Amália Rodrigues (1920-1999), the celebrated Fado singer from Portugal.


see also