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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.


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