Excellent article, Vivek! My dear friend Sonali Salkar from Vasco once sent me a video of her then 15 year old daughter singing the fado and your article captures how I felt when I heard her sing. Yes Madragoa stands out as one of the many creative cultural places/events that Goans are creating along with the recent campal festival, Victor Hugo’s goa chitra, Serendipity etc. I read somewhere that the Portuguese fado scene has also changed a lot with younger fado singers changing the style (although I don’t know the details) but it always give me joy to hear Mariza, a Mocambiquean Portuguese.
Sent from my iPhone > On Aug 13, 2023, at 09:52, V M <[email protected]> wrote: > > https://www.heraldgoa.in/Cafe/Celebrating-The-New-Fado-de-Goa/208865 > > By now we are accustomed to being blown away by the musical genius of > Sonia Shirsat, who has traversed an improbable journey from Ponda and > Panjim to become a truly spectacular fado singer, and one of the > foremost global ambassadors of this iconic Islamic-African-Iberian art > form. But now, even more incredible and unprecedented, an entire > generation of new fadistas is developing from India’s smallest state > to rewrite the genre in an emergent style all their own. Last weekend > at Panjim’s wonderful Madragoa (cipagoa.com/madragoa) – the world’s > first casa de fado and mando is itself totally unique – some of these > young stars-in-the-making rocked the house with absolutely brilliant > style and substance that must be experienced to be believed. > > Make no mistake: this is no renascença or any kind of nostalgic > hangover from the past. Instead, what is happening with fado in Goa is > considerably more interesting and important, as post-colonial 21st > century Indians have reinvented the musical form in ways that never > existed before. It’s the result of almost two decades of selfless > dedication by the great diva Sonia, and master instrumentalists Carlos > Meneses and Orlando de Noronha along with other notables. Thanks to > them – and probably to the surprise of the Portuguese - the venerable > SPIC MACAY has confirmed fado as an authentic musical genre of India. > > Fado de Goa is different in crucial ways which were on display at > Madragoa when 27-year-old Nadia Rebelo and 23-year-old Sherwyn Correia > took centre-stage in the absence of Sonia (who is travelling). Both > singers showed terrific vocal chops when they first emerged some years > ago, but no one could have predicted how much they would grow as > artists since then – first-rate in each solo, and utterly dazzling in > their duet. The audience viscerally understood it was something very > special, and when I shared the video on Facebook, that feeling was > immediately confirmed from the original home of fado, via Susana > Sardo, the acclaimed professor of ethnomusicology at University of > Aveiro who is also the Cunha Rivara Chair at Goa University: > “Everything is magnificent. It's a beautiful experience to hear fado > being performed like this.” > > Sardo is an outstanding expert on Goan musical culture, who began her > research here 36 years ago. Looking back, she says “there were very > few venues available for enjoying music, and the tourism industry was > also just taking its first steps. Consequently, hotels used to engage > the services of the four established musical groups: the Grupo > Folclórico de Panjim led by Timóteo Fernandes, Grupo de Fanquito > Martins, Goa Cultural Group - under the leadership by Mimoso Gonçalves > -, and another group organized by Athos Fernandes. The touristic > venues were limited to the Hotel Mandovi (established in 1952), Fort > Aguada Beach Resort (established in 1972), Hotel Cidade de Goa > (established in 1982), and the touristic boat journey along the > Mandovi.” > > This is important: “back in 1987, the performance of music within > domestic settings, such as rituals, family gatherings, and parties, > remained quite common, making public performances somewhat > unnecessary. However, over the course of the past 36 years, > significant changes have occurred. The traditional music that once > thrived in domestic contexts (like mando, dulpod, deknni, fugddi, > dhalo, etc.) has now become almost marginal, leading to its resurgence > in public settings through dynamic processes like festivalization > (more than 50 Festivals between September and April), revivification, > and revivalism. Concurrently, a multitude of independent musical > projects have emerged, covering the jazz scene, popular music, and > even Western art music. In the present day, Goa's music scene, > although primarily staged, conveys tremendous vibrancy. The query of > "why" compels us to embark on a more profound analysis of the > situation... yet, this should not be disregarded as a crucial example > of how music can instigate transformations within society.” > > I am grateful to Prof. Sardo for her most generous responses to my > emailed inquiries following our mutual delight over the Madragoa > performances, including this analysis of our homegrown style: “Goa's > interpretation of fado features innovative expressions, such as the > captivating experiment of Fado Raga led by Sonia Shirsat, as well as > fado performed in Konkani. This interplay between canonical fado and > various musical traditions and languages signals a remarkable vitality > and serves as a testimony that fado can transcend its colonial > origins. Moreover, Fado de Goa now boasts singers from diverse > religious backgrounds. The presence of talented Hindu women performing > fado is particularly noteworthy and serves as a powerful indication of > how music can pave the way for coexistence and social transformation.” > > This is another important point, which reminded me of a previous fado > performance by Hindustani-classical-trained vocalist Anupama > Prabhudesai at an event organised by Sonia Shirsat, followed by her > daughters Srushti (23) and Swaara (20). Earlier this week, the elder > Ms. Prabhudesai told me that “none of us were even aware of this genre > of music. I am trained and still continue to train in Hindustani > Classical Music (vocals) but when my older daughter was studying in > Loyola Higher Secondary School, they had organized the Lusophone > festival and that is when we got the opportunity to listen to Sonia > Shirsat render very soulful fados. I was so mesmerized by her voice > and the melodies. Soon after, we heard that there was going to be a > workshop by Sonia, and this was the beginning of our journey. I was > drawn to Fado because I found it to be similar to Ghazals. Both are > extremely expressive forms of music. Just as Hindustani classical > brings peace to my mind and soul, Fado too takes me into a different > world. The melodies and the style of singing is what touches my > heart.” > > This testimony is another meaningful reminder of just how important > Sonia Shirsat has been, and why she fully deserves the Padma Shri and > every other honour that India can award her. Sardo says “she doesn't > merely sing fado; she embodies it. However, Sonia is not only an > immensely talented performer; she's also a remarkably creative artist > with an insatiable thirst for knowledge. She continually seeks to > expand her horizons [and] what sets Sonia apart is her willingness to > share the fado tradition with others, a remarkable trait. In this > pursuit, she established the world's first school of fado. It's > intriguing to note that there has never been a formal school of fado > in Portugal, making this situation quite peculiar. For those seeking > to learn fado, the most promising avenue may well be to journey to > Goa!” > > How often does history take such mind-bending twists? And, what > compelled this distinguished Portuguese professor of music to > spontaneously exult over a fado performance in farway Panjim? Sardo > told me that “I had an immediate reaction to that specific video > because I listened for the first time to a fado sung in a polyphonic > way. The experience was simply incredible! At Madragoa, we are > witnessing highly innovative and significant shifts in both mando and > fado. The choired profile of mando sets it apart entirely from other > musical traditions in India but now Sonia is taking mando in a new > direction, transitioning it into a monodic song, which is fascinating. > Yet, when I hear Nadia and Sherwyn harmonizing fado in two voices, I > can't help but think: they cannot resign polyphony! This, in a certain > way, charts a creative and compelling path towards a decolonialized > form of Goan fado.” > > By happy circumstance at Madragoa, I was sitting in the same row as > Goan-American scholar Nicole-Ann Lobo, whose doctoral studies at > Princeton University focus on the great Saligao-born artist FN Souza. > Last year, she wrote a beautiful essay on the pioneering jazz musician > Amancio da Silva, which contains this fine meditation on her identity: > “A spirit of cosmopolitan cultural exchange encapsulate[s] the very > essence of what it means to be Goan. After all, Goa is almost > indisputably one of the most important sites of the East-West > confluence in history. Goans have long been described as “cultural > brokers,” and though often sidelined to support an alternative > narrative to support nationalist impulses, myriads of Goans in the > arts are responsible for many of the most cutting-edge developments in > “Indian culture” of the twentieth century.” > > All that was written – and theorized – from afar. Now, with feet > firmly on the ground in her ancestral homeland, this sparkling > 26-year-old told me that “I am thrilled that a place like Madragoa > exists. From the moment I entered, the atmosphere felt jubilant, ripe > with anticipation. At our particular moment of cultural > homogenization, I understand why art forms often dismissed as outdated > or slandered as mere colonial legacies are so intentionally cultivated > by the communities to whom they have historically belonged. But I > don't think anyone who was at Madragoa could describe the performance > or atmosphere as anachronistic. In fact, it felt deeply of our moment > - the timelessness of fado and mando given new life.” > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Goa-Research-Net" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web, visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/CAN1wPW6GTbzD6%2B9Lgb%3DZ0yne0muv%2B%2BohSmN95hmpDPjP73aQFA%40mail.gmail.com. > <113E77C.jpg> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Goa-Research-Net" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/goa-research-net/8CF2FCF2-D170-448E-AEBF-D2B70F03E152%40gmail.com.
