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"...

Xaile Encarnado
Aldina Duarte Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Eu tenho um xaile encarnado
É uma lembrança tua
Tem um segredo bordado
Que ás vezes eu trago á rua

Tem as marcas de uma vida
Que a vida marca no rosto
Mas ganha uma nova vida

Nas noites que o trago posto

Já foi lençol e bandeira
Vela de barco, também
Tem marcas da vida inteira
Mas dizem que me cai bem

Se pensas que me perdi
Nalgum destino traçado

Pra veres que não esqueci
Eu ponho o xaile encarnado

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Aldina Duarte's song Xaile Encarnado convey a profound sense of personal attachment to a specific object: a red shawl. The singer declares that the shawl is a reminder of someone she has lost in her life, someone so important that she carries the shawl with her everywhere she goes. She shares that the shawl has a secret embroidered on to it, a secret that she sometimes reveals when wearing it in public.

The red shawl carries the marks of a life lived, visible in the wrinkles and creases that have formed over time. However, despite these signs of wear and tear, the shawl gains new life whenever the singer wears it on a night out. The shawl has served multiple purposes in the singer's life, having been used as a sheet or a banner or even as a sail for a boat. It has been with her through all the ups and downs of life, and according to the people around her, it suits her well.

Line by Line Meaning

Eu tenho um xaile encarnado
I possess a scarlet shawl

É uma lembrança tua
It's a memory of you

Tem um segredo bordado
It has an embroidered secret

Que ás vezes eu trago á rua
Which I sometimes bring outside

Tem as marcas de uma vida
It has the marks of a life

Que a vida marca no rosto
That life etches on the face

Mas ganha uma nova vida
But it gains a new life

Nas noites que o trago posto
On nights that I wear it

Já foi lençol e bandeira
It has already been a sheet and a flag

Vela de barco, também
Also a sail of a boat

Tem marcas da vida inteira
It has the marks of a whole life