Amália in America – Além do Fado was presented at the Centro Cultural de Belém (CCB) in September last year, and tomorrow, Saturday, the version Amália in America – Beyond Fado takes the stage at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York. “It’s going to be basically the same show, there’s a small difference: at CCB we were also able to hear a little of Amália’s voice and this time it won’t be possible. And what’s different? It’s Carnegie Hall, it’s one of the most paradigmatic halls in the world, there’s some small pressure on our side, but above all a huge pleasure in being ambassadors for a person like Amáliaand also ambassadors of Portuguese culture in the United States”, says Jan Wierzba, the conductor of the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra who will accompany fado singers Cristina Branco, Raquel Tavares and Ricardo Ribeiro.
In this case, rigor requires us to speak first of “soloists”, because, as Ricardo Ribeiro points out, what we hear in this show promoted by Égide – Associação Portuguesa das Artes, with executive direction by Tiago Nunes, are not fado. “We are not going to sing fados. There is a big difference between the repertoire that is here and what are considered fados. This is not a question of radicalism, radical means going to the roots, and that is not what it is about. There are no fados, there is Portuguese folklore, there are popular music songs and there is Seagullwhich is nowadays considered a classic fado. And then the entire Broadway repertoire that Amália sang, which will be in charge of Cristina Branco”.