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"...

Luas Brancas
Aldina Duarte Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Eram tantas, tantas luas
Que eu despi da tua voz
Todas brancas, todas tuas
Todas por estarmos sós

Eram aves, eram tantas
Nos dedos da tua mão
Era o eco nas gargantas

Das palavras que não são

Era a dança das marés
O mar bravo e seu reverso
Eram tudo o que tu és
O pulsar do universo

E depois, era mais nada
E mais nada acontecia

Era quase madrugada
Quando o mundo adormecia

Overall Meaning

In Aldina Duarte's song Luas Brancas, the lyrics tell of an intimate and perhaps complicated relationship between the singer and her lover. The imagery of moons and birds are used to describe the moments they share, with the moons being the times they are alone together, and the birds representing the delicate moments between them. The moons are described as white, all belonging to the lover, as they share these moments solely with each other. The birds represent the fragility and fleetingness of their relationship, seeming to be balanced on the fingertips of the lover's hand.

The lyrics also describe the sounds that surround them during these moments, with the echo of words that are never spoken and the dance of the tides providing a metaphor for the movements in their relationship. The pulsing of the universe, perhaps representing the passion and intensity between them, is also mentioned. However, the lyrics end with a sense of emptiness and stillness, with nothing else happening and the world seemingly asleep, perhaps alluding to the end or the fading of their relationship.

Line by Line Meaning

Eram tantas, tantas luas
There were so many, so many moons

Que eu despi da tua voz
That I stripped from your voice

Todas brancas, todas tuas
All white, all yours

Todas por estarmos sós
All because we were alone

Eram aves, eram tantas
They were birds, they were so many

Nos dedos da tua mão
In the palms of your hand

Era o eco nas gargantas
It was the echo in our throats

Das palavras que não são
Of the words that aren't said

Era a dança das marés
It was the dance of the tides

O mar bravo e seu reverso
The fierce sea and its reverse

Eram tudo o que tu és
They were everything you are