aaamusic | On 31, Mar 2011

Grammy Award winning singer Mariza returns to captivate audiences with her personal take on traditional fado, as, this May, she brings the live show of her new album Fado Tradicional, to the UK including three nights at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Thu 5 – Sat 7 May LONDON Queen Elizabeth Hall (THREE NIGHTS)
0844 875 0073 www.southbankcentre.co.uk

Mon 9 May NOTTINGHAM Theatre Royal
0115 989 5555 www.royalcentre-nottingham.co.uk

Tue 10 May BIRMINGHAM Town Hall
0121 780 3333 www.thsh.co.uk

Wed 11 May MANCHESTER RNCM
0161 907 5200 rncm.ac.uk

Fri 13 May EDINBURGH Usher Hall
0131 228 1155 usherhall.co.uk

“She’s at her pinnacle as a vocalist, with a breathtaking emotronal range” UNCUT

“As ever Mariza delivers melodrama with exquisite soul and grace” METRO

“In 2011 Fado belongs to Mariza’ The Times

“gorgeous melodies to prove that this genre isn’t always dark and melancholy. beautifully produced with a warm, delicate tone” London Evening Standard

“She gets better and better. The voice is even more majestic, the gestures even more dramatic.” The Times

Mariza is more than just the leading Portuguese fado singer of her generation, the modern face of a great tradition, she is a global icon who has seduced world wide audiences with her awesome singing, charismatic stage presence and powerful blend of traditional and contemporary song forms. She has infused fado, the breathtaking lyrical and melancholic music of Portugal with the musical flavours of Brazil, Spain and Mozambique, And along the way she has taken fado to some of the world’s greatest stages, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Royal Opera House in London, Paris Olympia and Sydney Opera House, and has enjoyed 32 platinum albums and sold over one million records.

Mariza has become one of the world’s greatest and most renowned singers, by not only exploring the traditional elements of fado, but by being prepared to find subtle accommodations with the best contemporary visions of the music. Across four spectacular studio albums she has breathed new life into fado, now though for her fifth studio album she returns to her roots. “Fado Tradicional”, her latest recording, finds Mariza triumphantly exploring the origins of the genre: the time-honoured standard melodies that have been passed on through decades from singer to singer.
It is said that no Fado singer can ever be a “true” fado singer until she or he tackles these classics and makes them unmistakably their own. And as befits someone who grew up in the old Lisbon neighborhood of Mouraria surrounded by the music, Mariza proves herself once again fado’s greatest voice as she builds something new within the confines of the tradition, proving her mettle as a true Fado singer and as an artist without peer.

MARIZA PRESS QUOTES

“She gets better and better. Anyone who saw the queen of fado reduce the Royal Albert Hall to the dimensions of a taverna a few years ago might have wondered whether she was capable of springing any more surprises. The proof was to be found in this spellbinding performance. The voice is even more majestic, the gestures even more dramatic.” The Times

“Audiences in the world’s most prestigious concert halls have swooned before her majestic voice and lovable charisma; they have given standing ovations to an artist who is all the more impressive for her haute couture gowns and cap of peroxided hair. The Portuguese-Mozambican diva is still singing it as she feels it. Sad songs with classic themes — despair, destiny, betrayal.” The Evening Standard

“World divas come no classier than Mariza, whose charismatic presence and stunning voice have turned her and fado, Portugals mournful balladeering, into an international force” The Observer

“The rise and rise of Mariza continues. It has only been four years since her London debut, and now she has “fulfilled her dream” by appearing at a packed Albert Hall – and done so with a gloriously adventurous show.”
The Guardian

“…by the end of 2006, she had outstripped most of her world-music rivals with a magnificent show at the Albert Hall, no less. The diva had landed.” The Times

“…intoxicating combination of glamour and melancholy has thrilled audiences far beyond the world music pigeon hole. At 29, she has been acclaimed as the greatest fadista.”The Times

“Statuesque and vivacious, she has a model’s sense of grace and a canny understanding of what it takes to present this most unworldly music to listeners who will never grasp more than a few fragments of the poetry.” The Times

“…the greatest star of contemporary fado…”The Times 2008

“If any young performer can be credited with bringing fado, the soulful Portuguese folk song, to a global audience, it is the Mozambique-born, Lisbon- raised Mariza.” FT

“Since swiping the European award at 2003’s Radio 3 World Music Awards, she has pulled way ahead of the competition – every drip of her honeyed voice, every last imperious flexing of her lissom arms ecstatically received both in Portugal and abroad.” Daily Telegraph

“Strutting her woes with imperious passion, bottle-blonde fado queen Mariza makes misery positively sexy.”
Daily Telegraph

“What makes Mariza special is her voice: a deep, throaty instrument that conveys both melancholy and joy. Indeed, when Mariza sings she transports the listener to Lisbon’s cobbled streets and evokes an old European soulfulness, one too rarely heard among the incessant, empty din of so much contemporary music.” The independent

“Performing, Mariza exudes energy…. Her voice is powerful, but unfailingly mellifluous and accurate, a real fadista’s voice.” Daily Telegrap