The Pavilhão Atlântico (Atlantic Pavilion) is the huge Concert Hall situated in the Park of the Nations.We went there a couple of Thursday evenings ago for a concert by Portugal's world class fado singer, Mariza. (NB If you want to find where it is why don’t you copy and paste “Pavilhão Atlântico, Lisboa” into Google maps and it’s the great big grey blob that looks like a rugby ball.
And while you’re there why not scroll northwards up the road called Alameda dos Oceanos to where the Parque do Tejo is just before you reach the Vasco da Gama Bridge, and that is where our home will be when we move mid December!)
Anyway, back to the Concert. It was absolutely magical. This diminutive figure in her signature black gown strode out on the stage to the sound of the Portuguese guitarra, and the crowd of 12,000 people stilled as she filled the auditorium with her voice, crying out from her heart of love and loss and sadness. Because that is the heartbeat of fado music.
She had just returned from a tour of the US, singing in Carnegie Hall, New York across to Los Angeles, and spoke so emotionally of her joy at being back in her beloved Lisboa. At least, we got the emotion, if not all the words. In fact our enjoyment of the whole evening was undimmed by the fact that our embryonic Portuguese only caught a fraction of the words spoken in introducing the various stars who participated in the concert with her. For us, it was a great introduction to the world of “lusophone” music (Lusophone is a general term given for any Portuguese speaking part of the world) with artist from Portugal, Angola, Brazil and Cape Verde.
A magical evening, and another late Lisbon night, starting this time at 10 pm and finishing by half past midnight. Not sure if we can keep this up.
www.mariza.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHzaIK8fGVg
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