Born in Lisbon, Portugal, official documents have her date of birth as the 23rd July, but Rodrigues always said her birthday was the 1st July 1920. She was born in the rua Martim Vaz (Martim Vaz Street), freguesia of Pena, Lisbon. Her father was a trumpet player and cobbler from Fundão who returned there when Amália was just over a year old, leaving her to live in Lisbon with her maternal grandmother in a deeply Catholic environment until she was fourteen, when her parents returned to the capital and she moved back in with them.
She was known as the "Rainha do Fado" ("Queen of Fado"), and was most influential in popularising fado worldwide. She was unquestionably the most important figure in the genre’s development, by virtue of an innate interpretive talent carefully nurtured throughout a forty-year recording and stage career. Rodrigues' performances and choice of repertoire pushed fado’s boundaries and helped redefine it and reconfigure it for her and subsequent generations. In effect, Rodrigues wrote the rulebook on what fado could be and on how a female singer - or fadista - should perform it, to the extent that she remains an unsurpassable model and an unending source of repertoire for all those who came afterwards.
After a few years of amateur performances, Rodrigues’ first professional engagement in a fado venue took place in 1939, and she quickly became a regular guest star in stage revues. There she met Frederico Valério, a classically-trained composer who, recognising the potential in such a voice, wrote expansive melodies custom-designed for Rodrigues’ voice, breaking the rules of fado by adding orchestral accompaniment.
Her Portuguese popularity began to extend abroad with trips to Spain, a lengthy stay in Brazil (where, in 1945, she made her first recordings on Brazilian label Continental) and Paris (in 1949). In 1950, while performing at the Marshall Plan international benefit shows, she introduced "April in Portugal" to international audiences (under its original title "Coimbra"). In the early fifties, the patronage of the acclaimed Portuguese poet David Mourão-Ferreira marked the beginning of a new phase; Rodrigues sang many of the country's greatest poets, and some wrote lyrics specifically for her.
In 1954, Rodrigues' international career skyrocketed through her presence in Henri Verneuil’s film The Lovers of Lisbon, where she had a supporting role and performed on-screen. By the late 1950s the USA, England, and France had become her major international markets (Japan and Italy followed in the 1970s); in France especially, her popularity rivalled her Portuguese success, and she graduated to headliner at the prestigious Olympia theatre within a matter of months. Over the years, she performed nearly all over the world, going as far as the Soviet Union and Israel.
At the end of the 1950s, Rodrigues took a year off. She returned in 1962 with a richer voice, concentrating on recording and performing live at a slower pace. Her comeback album, 1962's Amália Rodrigues, was her first collaboration with French composer Alain Oulman, her main songwriter and musical producer throughout the decade. As Valério had before him, Oulman wrote melodies for her that transcended the conventions of fado. Rodrigues did not shy away from controversy: her performance in Carlos Vilardebó’s 1964 arthouse film The Enchanted Islands was better received than the film, based on a short story by Herman Melville, and her 1965 recording of poems by 16th century poet Luís de Camões generated acres of newspaper polemics. Yet her popularity remained untouched. Her 1968 single "Vou Dar de Beber à Dor" broke all sales records, and her 1970 album Com que Voz, considered by many her definitive recording, won a number of international awards.
During the 1970s, Rodrigues concentrated on live work, and embarked upon a heavy schedule of worldwide concert performances. During the frenetic period after the 25th April 1974 she was falsely accused of being a covert agent of the PIDE, causing some trauma to her public life and career. (In fact, during the Salazar years, Rodrigues had been an occasional financial supporter of some communists in need.) Her return to the recording studio in 1977 with Cantigas numa Língua Antiga was received as a triumph. The 1980s and 1990s brought her enthronement as a living legend. Her last all-new studio recording, Lágrima, was released in 1983. It was followed by a series of previously lost or unreleased recordings, and the smash success of two greatest hits collections that sold over 200,000 copies combined.
Despite a series of illnesses involving her voice, Rodrigues continued recording as late as 1990. She eventually retreated from public performance, although her career gained in stature with an official biography by historian and journalist Vítor Pavão dos Santos, and a five-hour television series documenting her fifty-year career, featuring rare archival footage (later distilled into the ninety-minute film documentary, The Art of Amália). Its director, Bruno de Almeida, has also produced Amália, Live in New York City (a concert film of her 1990 performance at New York City Hall).
Rodrigues died on the 6th October 1999 at the age of seventy-nine in her home in Lisbon. Portugal's government promptly declared a period of national mourning. Her house (in Rua de São Bento) is now a museum. She is now buried at the National Pantheon alongside other Portuguese notables.
1946.
Oliveirinha Da Serra
Amália Rodrigues Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴
Viva Portugal! Viva Portugal!
Ao sair de "dei" perdi um dedal!
Oh, minha Rosinha, eu hei de te amar
De dia ao sol, de noite ao luar!
De noite ao luar, de noite ao luar
Oh, minha Rosinha, eu hei de te amar!
Oh, minha Rosinha, estrela do mar
Deixas-me ficar, deixas-me ficar
Oh, minha Rosinha, estrela do mar!
Oh, minha Rosinha, do meu coração
Tu vais pra Lisboa, não levas paixão!
Não levas paixão, não levas paixão
Oh, minha Rosinha, do meu coração!
Oh, minha Rosinha, eu hei de ir, hei de ir
Jurar a verdade, que eu não sei mentir!
Que eu não sei mentir, que eu não sei mentir
Oh, minha Rosinha, eu hei de ir, hei de ir!
In the song "Oliveirinha Da Serra" by Amália Rodrigues, the lyrics paint a bittersweet picture of love and longing, set against the backdrop of Portugal. The singer starts by mentioning the loss of a thimble upon leaving the village of "dei," which could symbolize a sense of loss or leaving behind a part of themselves as they depart. The repeated exclamation "Viva Portugal!" not only celebrates the homeland but also conveys a sense of pride and patriotism. It sets the stage for the unfolding tale of love and separation.
The lyrics then shift to focus on a character named Rosinha, who is the object of the singer's affection. The singer expresses a deep and enduring love for Rosinha, promising to love her both during the day under the sun and at night under the moonlight. The repetition of this promise emphasizes the sincerity and constancy of the singer's feelings. Rosinha is portrayed as a shimmering presence, likened to a star of the sea, adding a touch of romanticism and mystique to their relationship.
Despite the singer's professed love, there is a sense of impending separation as Rosinha is set to depart for Lisbon, leaving the singer behind. The sorrow of being left behind is palpable in the lyrics, with the singer lamenting that Rosinha is taking herself away to the city, leaving behind their shared love and passion. This impending physical distance between them adds a layer of melancholy to the song, underscoring the theme of longing and unfulfilled desires.
The final verses express the singer's determination to follow Rosinha to Lisbon, swearing to uphold the truth and confessing their inability to lie. This declaration of honesty and commitment adds a sense of resolve and urgency to the song, as the singer vows to pursue their love and make things right. Overall, "Oliveirinha Da Serra" captures the complexities of love, separation, and the unwavering dedication of the singer to pursue their beloved, creating a poignant and heartfelt narrative set in the beautiful landscapes of Portugal.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Jose Lopes
mt bom
Helena Marques
Letra interessante que fala da oliveirinha da Serra...
Eu quando era criança assisti à apanha da azeitona quando fazia muito frio, chuva e lama!
A minha mãe ensinou-me a dar valor ao azeite e dizia :" azeite é como o oiro, não se deve estragar!".
Kavolce Banda
O Oliveirinha não era o Salazar?
Team Speak
o salazar é a serra a pide é o oioai e o rato mickey é o vento
Lidia Maia
Não..a oliveira, a azeitona é o azeite chegaram ao mundo antes dele...
Gonçalo Dias
esta musica n tem nada a ver com o estado novo
Diogo Rodrigues
Sim, era, uma crítica a António de Oliveira Salazar.
Tiago Santos
alguem me pode dizer os intrumentos utilizados aqui ?
Micaela de Figueiredo
é uma orquestra, são usados vários instrumentos, clarinetes, trombones, trompetes, precursão (triângulo etc.) flautas transversais entre outros. ;)
Daniel Mendes
Ent palmas, som de sovaco e mais um ou dois Caralhos