The Fado Museum, located in the typical Alfama neighbourhood is entirely devoted to this emblematic music of Lisbon. It uses some audio-visual environments to reveal the history of fado, also remembering its interpreters and instrumentalists. The museum covers all of the fado's history: its inception in the eighteenth century, its internationalization since the 30's of the twentieth century, the censure imposed by the Estado Novo's dictatorship, its ostracism after the Revolution of 1974 and the consecration as a World Heritage by Unesco, in 2011. It also displays the history of the Portuguese guitar, the inseparable instrument of this musical expression.
On display are remarkable paintings: O Fado by José Malhoa (1910), the triptych O Marinheiro (The Sailor) by Constantino Fernandes (1913) and also the lenticular panel O Mais Português dos Quadros a Óleo (The Most Portuguese Oil Paiting) by João Vieira (2005), replicating the challenging and bohemian atmosphere, characteristic in fado. The museum also presents numerous testimonies of the fado's universe such as newspapers, photographs, posters, musical stores, musical instruments, sound recordings, costumes and acting props, awards, professional documentation, contracts, licenses and professional cards. In addition to its permanent exhibit, the Museum of Fado also holds regular exhibitions and has a school, where it promotes the interpretation of fado and Portuguese guitar learning.
Useful information
The Fado Museum has a theme store, specialized in fado's discography, bibliography and souvenirs, as well as a cafeteria and restaurant service, open from 10 am to 2 am. The entrance ticket costs 5 euros (discounts for youngsters, seniors, students, families and the Lisboa Card holders). It is closed on Mondays and on January 1st, May 1st and December 25th.
To visit Lisbon and not listen to fado, is much like going to Rome without seeing the Pope. Fado is a Portuguese musical style usually sung by one person and accompanied by classic and Portuguese guitars. At Clube de Fado one can enjoy a fado’s evening, while enjoying a traditional Portuguese dinner. Installed in the typical Alfama area, in a building full of history, the ambience is at half-light and decorated with the furniture typical of Lisbon’s old taverns, where the fado singers sang astray. Inside, there is still a Moor well. Its antiquity was associated with superstition, now being said that it is a lucky well.
At Clube de Fado the cuisine is traditional Portuguese with dishes such as sirloin steak, lamb chops, cod in the cataplana and seafood's bread soup. Prices are here higher than in other similar restaurants, but this is justified by the fado's show that happens every night. The guitarist Mário Pacheco is the resident artist (and also the space's owner), always accompanied by professional or amateur fado singers. There are fados shows every day of the week, starting at 9.30 p.m. and extending until the house's closing by 2 a.m. To hear them you must pay a 7.50 euros fee. If you would rather watch the show without having dinner, show up only after 10.30 p.m. (you still have to pay the same fee). And please note: silence that fado is going to be sung!
Tasca do Jaime, located in the typical Graça neighbourhood, is one of the few places in Lisbon where there is still the genuine spirit of fado. This small tavern, filled with a stone balcony and half a dozen tables, is in the 28 tram’s route. This makes it easy to find for those unfamiliar with this area of town. On Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays afternoons, between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., this space is not enough for the small crowd (many local residents and some tourists) that gathers there to watch the astray fado, sung by amateurs that evoke the dramas, anxieties and tragedies of the Lisbon's people.
During these fado's evenings, there is a succession of voices, aided by a microphone that drops from the ceiling and is passed from hand to hand, giving an opportunity to every single singer. All of this happens in the typical style of Lisbon's old taverns. On the walls are visible numerous photographs that recall the fado's ambience and history. Consumption is made up of pitchers of red and green wine and various petiscos (snacks), such as the famous pastéis de bacalhau (codfish cakes). The owners, with their sympathy, encourage an ambience of relaxation and conviviality. Because of the large turnout, it is advisable to arrive early to Tasca do Jaime on the fado's days, to ensure a seated table inside.
The great diva of fado, Amália Rodrigues, is undoubtedly one of the most iconic and beloved figures in Portuguese culture. Therefore, the house where she lived was transformed into a museum almost immediately after her death, in 1999. The refurbishment of the house was carried out by the Amália Rodrigues Foundation, in collaboration with the Museum of Costume in the organization and presentation of the pieces.
The former home of the singer, now House-Museum Amália Rodrigues, is a beautiful Lisbon like house, situated in the renowned street of São Bento. On the guided tour of about 30 minutes, the singer's many admirers may know and enjoy the environment, spaces and objects that populated the artist's life and that are living testimonies of her career and her personal experiences.
In total, there are more than 30000 objects distributed by different spaces:
- The living room contains some of the most precious, like a 19th century guitar, a piano, pictures, recordings, several medals and prizes.
- The dining room is ready for a nice dinner with the table beautifully set.
- The bedroom, on the top floor, is the most intimate and personal space, where there are objects exposed such as: perfumes, dresses, shawl, shoes and jewellery.
The Tasca do Chico (Chico's Tavern) is a chapel of fado vadio, one of the most authentic versions of this Portuguese musical style. Open since 1994, it took a former cheese and sausages warehouse that Francisco Gonçalves remodeled to open this old tavern's recreation. The decor consists of old photographs and newspaper clippings that illustrate several generations of singers. On Mondays and Wednesdays, there are fado nights that feature popular performers but also anonymous people singing the most genuine fado. Here anyone can sing, which sometimes causes some competition between these amateur performers, who vie for this opportunity to exhibit themselves in public.
The tables are filled up with tourists from all backgrounds and ages, mixed with local fado lovers. When the house fills up (which is very common), people pile up at the door, waiting for an opportunity to come in (the entrance is not paid, only the realized consumption is). Therefore, it is advisable to arrive early to get a seating position but you should still be prepared to share your table with other spectators. To accompany the fado, you can have a beer or taste the sangria. For snacking, there are caldo verde (cabbage soup), cheeses, sausages and roast chorizo. In 2009, Tasca do Chico opened a second house in Alfama (Rua dos Remédios, No. 83), which shapes up to the spirit of this first one. Here, listen to fado astray every week between Thursday and Sunday.
O Povo Lisboa é um restaurante e bar inaugurado em novembro de 2011 e localizado no Cais do Sodré, numa área em renascimento depois de algumas décadas de degradação. Inspira-se nas antigas tascas lisboetas para se posicionar como um agradável ponto de encontro, animado por música e bem acompanhado por uns petiscos (pataniscas, ovos verdes, peixinhos da horta, salada de polvo) e um copo de vinho. Ocupa o espaço do antigo bar Arizona, devidamente reconvertido num local moderno e arejado. Para além do espaço interior, dispõe de uma esplanada na rua (que foi vedada ao trânsito) e que é onde acontece toda a animação.
No Povo Lisboa, o fado está presente através de espetáculos ao vivo. Há um fadista residente, geralmente um jovem intérprete (muda todos os meses), que canta este género musical acompanhado por instrumentistas. O objetivo é descobrir novos talentos, potenciando as suas carreiras profissionais. Nas sessões de domingo, o público é convidado a participar, ou seja os anónimos podem cantar também. Há ainda sessões de música de fusão e world music, incluindo tango e flamenco. O Povo Lisboa dispõe também de menus fixos de petiscos e, durante os dias de semana, serve um prato do dia a preço económico. Está aberto durante toda a semana.
The Discoteca Amália is a charming fado records' store located in downtown Lisbon, which pays tribute to Amália Rodrigues. This shop, founded in 1991, presents in its window a picture displaying the famous diva of fado, accompanied by roses. Inside, in a kind of fado's shrine, is a space that sells everything from the earliest to the latest fado's music hits. Sometimes and when the noise of the external traffic allows it, the inside music spreads down the street. This is a shop visited by many tourists who want to know more about fado and buy some of its most iconic albums. Its staff is always available to help the customers.
The Discoteca Amália is complemented with a fado’s van, a vintage Fleur de Lys brand car in the style of the 20’s (with the registration plate OE-50-80), parked at Rua do Carmo. This car, in addition to giving fado to listen to people passing by, is also another selling point dedicated to that Portuguese music style’s discography. It is a place where tourists usually stop, often attracted by the music and taking advantage of it to ask for touristic informations to the sales staff inside (although this is not an official point of tourism information). Discoteca Amália is closed on Sundays.
Fado is Lisbon’s musical expression, with little-known origins but always associated to the history of the city. While port of departure for the overseas expansion of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, Lisbon received visitors and slaves coming from Africa, South America and Asia, who left behind their musical influences spread throughout the town. But only in 1840 did fado gain recognition in Lisbon, being originally sung by sailors. Quickly did its interpreters become highlighted for the audacious letters and provocative dressings. Throughout the 20th century, fado won fans within the upper classes and expanded itself into radio, cinema and theatres, reaching a national dimension. The Casas de Fado (the traditional clubs where fado is sung) were born in the middle of the 20th century and enabled the professionalization of fado’s singers, then obligated to a professional license and to the previous censorship of their lyrics.
With Amália Rodrigues (1920-99), the greatest fado singer ever, this song was modernized and it acquired a world statute, confirmed by UNESCO, which declared it a World Heritage in November 2011. The fado singers sing the longing for a lost love, the woe and the tragedy, the love and the jealousy, in appropriate environments, at an half-light and demanding absolute silence. After a period marked by a lack of interest, fado has regained its place in Lisbon and is now a musical style cherished by the elites and sung by the people of the city, while many tourists search the town for the most genuine marks of local culture. This fado itinerary, which can be done in two days, is divided into visits to institutions that promote and expose this Portuguese art, such as the Fado Museum and the Amália Rodrigues Museum-House, but also the restaurants and tascas (taverns) where it is sung. The first, most touristic in nature, are places where you need to have dinner or pay a fee to listen to the fado sung by professionals. The true fadista spirit, practiced by amateur singers that sing it in a kind of improvised competition, can be found in the few tascas that still resist to the more modern styles. Here, anyone can listen or sing fado vadio, subject only to the consumption of a beer or a jug of wine. It is the most popular program and a recommended one for those visiting Lisbon or wanting to know this city in depth.
