Her greatest mystery is the definition of her soul as a Fado singer, given … Read Full Bio ↴Her greatest mystery is the definition of her soul as a Fado singer, given she grew up away from the "family" of Fado. That soul is revealed in her intelligent voice, in her rare timbre, in the way the words sound so organic, syllable by syllable, note by note… The poems, the music set a mood for the story that is being sung; the instrumental accompaniment further underscores the intuition of the Fado singer, shaping the voice to the meaning of the words, to the musical improvisation. Together, these elements make the Art of Fado. It only appears when there is a soul. If there is a soul. Aldina's personality is entirely within her performing abilities. Everything in her art becomes immediately original, in a shockingly simple way. Aldina Duarte believes. Aldina Duarte makes us believe. Aldina Duarte began working at 20 in a newspaper. Then she worked in radio. She was a backing singer in an art school band. She performed in a film, Manuel Mozos's Xavier, where she sang the only Fado she had ever known, Rua do Capelão, one of Amália Rodrigues' greatest hits. Later, she started listening to Fado in a venue where she first came across Beatriz da Conceição, one of the genre's classic divas. They spoke of Fado, of life as a Fado singer. Aldina became enamoured of all she heard; asked for her advice, heard her speak of everything that means anything in Fado. She wished to sing Fado. She spent her days listening to records, her nights listening to singers, her months reading and memorizing poems. She sang in a stage play. Later she sang live during Lisbon's June celebrations; then she accepted an invitation for a TV variety show where she only lasted three programmes, realising it wasn't the road she wanted to take. It all suddenly fit into place when she sang, in a residency at a prestigious Lisbon theatre. Once a month, they would invite their favourite Fado singers and actors who would do poetry readings. The residency was often favourably mentioned in the press, audiences flocked.
Then Aldina was invited to sing nightly in a Fado venue; it was as if she had passed a tough entrance exam into a Fado school. She respected and maintained the rituals she had always found distinctive and beautiful about Fado: a black shawl, a black dress, silence, diffuse lighting. Everything she had ever loved about Fado. Her success led to invitations to sing in other Fado venues, to guest in concerts. One day she was invited to sing abroad, in the Piccolo Teatro of Milan; to sing Fado in a play about poet Fernando Pessoa, written by novelist and essayist Antonio Tabucchi and directed by lead actor Giancarlo Dettori, director Lamberto Puggelli and the Master, Giorgio Strehler. The experience helped shape what was to become her attitude towards Fado, leading her to be more careful about what she sang, and how she sang it. Besides singing professionally at the Senhor Vinho venue, Aldina has worked in the the Portuguese Cinemathèque - Cinema Museum and is currently a researcher at EMI Music Portugal where she is organizing the company's immense archives of Portuguese music - much of which is made up of Fado recordings. Beginning 2004, Aldina Duarte released her debut album “Apenas o Amor”. Since then she has been performing concerts in Portugal, Spain, France, Morocco, Italy, Belgium, Austria and The Netherlands. “Apenas o Amor” since its release has been referred as one of the best albums of 2004 by the Portuguese press. Her second cd "Crua" was released in January of 2006.The album was produced by João Monge who was also responsible for writing the lyrics... And now, 2008, the third album "Mulheres ao Espelho"...

A Estação Das Cerejas
Aldina Duarte Lyrics

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Eu hei-de ser das cerejas
Da vertigem dos cardumes
Do mistério dos pardais;
Hei-de ser o que tu sejas
Aquilo a que te resumes
As orações naturais

Eu hei-de ser vento norte

Rir-me na cara da morte
A dança do colibri
Mas hei-de ser do meu peito
Desta dor com que me deito
Só porque me dói de ti

Eu hei-de ser das cerejas
Do luar na primavera
Labirinto do prazer
Hei-de ser o que desejas
Que por ti sabes que espera
Enquanto a lua quiser

Eu hei-de nascer do nada
Como a papoila encarnada
Que nada fez por nascer
Hei-de nascer tua amada

Sem uma razão nem nada
Mas só porque tem de ser

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Aldina Duarte's "A Estação Das Cerejas" describe the singer's desire to embody various natural phenomena and become an integral part of the world around them. The first stanza expresses a desire to be like the cherry tree, which represents the exhilaration of being part of a large group, as well as the mystery inherent in small, everyday things like sparrows. The singer expresses a desire to be the same as the person they love, to share in their natural inclinations and be a part of their essential being.

The second stanza describes the singer's desire to embody various aspects of nature, including the power of the north wind, the joyfulness of a hummingbird's dance, and the pain of heartache. The final lines express the singer's willingness to be reborn into the world as the beloved of the person they love, without any rational explanation other than the inevitability of their connection.

Overall, the lyrics of "A Estação Das Cerejas" are about the desire to merge with the natural world and with the loved one, to become something greater than oneself and to find meaning in the interconnectedness of all things.

Line by Line Meaning

Eu hei-de ser das cerejas
I will epitomize the cherries

Da vertigem dos cardumes
Reflecting the swirl of shoals

Do mistério dos pardais;
And the veiled thoughts of sparrows

Hei-de ser o que tu sejas
I shall become what you are

Aquilo a que te resumes
What concludes your essence

As orações naturais
The natural psalms that imbue

Eu hei-de ser vento norte
I will become the northern wind

Rir-me na cara da morte
Laughing smack in death's face

A dança do colibri
Performing like the hummingbird

Mas hei-de ser do meu peito
But I'd still be my own heart

Desta dor com que me deito
Wrought with the pain I still carry