Fado Lisboeta

It's frustrating when a disc by a legendary singer like Amália Rodrigues from a traditional folk-oriented, English-language label, comes with skimpy liner notes and no musician credits or recording dates. Fado Lisboeta is not exactly a greatest-hits collection: songs recognized as her biggest successes aren't here. But it's probably representative and may not matter that much because Rodrigues is a glorious singer who ruled Portuguese pop music and fado from the '40s on; she's the national queen of song like Oum Kaltsoum in Egypt, or Edith Piaf in France — split the difference between Piaf and Césaria Évora and you'll be in Rodrigues' vocal neighborhood. Fado Lisboeta is informative because you learn right from the opening "Esquina Do Pecado," drenched with strings and a cluttered-to-death arrangement, that the fewer instruments get in her way, the better you hear the heartache blues of Portuguese fado shine through. The arrangements make the first half-dozen tracks uneven, even though the less-is-more principle is clear once her voice swoops and soars through "Sem Razão" and "Fria Claridade." After the forced lightheartedness of "Campinos Do Ribatejo," the curve is on the ascent until "Que Dues Me Perdoe" gets a bit overblown again. "Avé Maria Fadista" is gorgeous, and some of the catches in her voice over the sensitive mandolin-ish trills on "A Minha Canção É Saudade" will teach you all you need to know about saudade heartache.

"Fado Do Ciume" is notable for the purity of her singing and vocal command, and together with "Fado Amália" show that she can work with full arrangements and strings, provided that they stay out of her way. But the bluesy quality that comes from minimal guitar and that mandolin-ish backing on tracks like "Disse Mal De Ti," or "Cansaço," are the real bombs. There may well be more definitive compilations than Fado Lisboeta available, but the undeniable emotional impact of Rodrigues' voice makes this a strong collection. And it should alert curious listeners to search for her unadorned, roots fado recordings, unencumbered by any big productions which attempt to maintain her popular status as the musical queen of Portugal.