On the occasion of the centenary of Amália Rodrigues, the Portuguese label Valentim De Carvalho has released a double album of rare and previously-unpublished recordings which testify to the tenuous working relationship between the queen of fado and her most faithful composer, the Franco-Portuguese Alain Oulman. The year is 1970: Amália is at the height of her powers, Oulman returns to Portugal after being banned by the regime of Salazar, who had been replaced two years prior by a less-liberticide successor from the same party. Amália Rodrigues, who did not care about politics, never stopped singing, reserving lyrics by authors deemed too revolutionary for her concerts abroad.
The songs gathered here were mostly written by writers opposed to the regime and would not be released until after the Carnation Revolution four years later. The first volume plunges us into the studio where the two artists, accompanied by two guitarists, (including the faithful José Fontes Rocha with his crystal clear Portuguese guitar) rehearse or record different versions of a handful of songs which were new at the time. A rehearsal and nine takes for Rosa Vermelha, three takes for Sete Estradas, three for Alfama and four for Perdigão, the multiplication of angles makes it possible to appreciate the path travelled by the artist, to witness the successive adjustments and to feel the symbiosis at work grow deeper. The second part takes us even deeper into the creative intimacy of the composer/performer pair, since these recordings were made at the diva's home and we hear the composer sing, as he discovers tunes that will become standards of the repertoire of Amália such as Tirai os Olhos de Mim, Alfama, Fui à Fonte Lavar os Cabelos or As Facas. Finally, this precious testimony presents two tracks, Sete Estradas and Com Vossa Licencia, which had never been heard before. © Benjamin MiNiMuM/Qobuz