Customer Reviews

Antologia

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I discovered this CD by chance while leaving Portugal in the airport. I asked the store attendant to recommend to me something that captured and represented the best of Portuguese music at this moment. Without hesitation, the attendant gave me Antologia to listen to and I knew immediately that this was a treasure. The mixture of her high rich voice develops a real energy with the instruments...as if the best of classical and the best of modern have found a place together. Just when you think you have probably heard the most beautiful and moving song on the album, the next one is even more moving. Her voice is heavenly, as are the instruments, you can almost feel the weaving of the two. Most songs are incredibly romantic without being superfical or frivolous, others are melancholic without being melodramatic, but all are are inspired and inspiring. I want to buy and pass this on to my closest friends. It really defies catagorization. You really will not believe how beautiful it is. This is something you will want to listen to alone, with a companion, or with a small group of friends for background music to a warm conversation. People will wonder where you found this.

How can i start? In 1999 i was introduced to the portuguese music. The portuguese language as we speak in Brazil is a little bit different from the original, as spoken in Portugal. For us, the original portuguese is distant, exotic, noble, almost alien. And the portuguese music, the "Fado", as opposite to our generical brazilian festive music, is often sad, and loaded with sentiment, with songs that talk about love lost to the ocean, about what might have beens, about old glory. It is a fascinating genre by itself, and the eventual bystander can even look curious, find it interesting and then walk his own path unchanged.

BUT..wait until you hear MADREDEUS.

You can?t. no one can hear their songs and even BE the same person again. It?s beyond Fado. This is why music itself was created/discovered. Their melodies and THE VOICE can rescue you long lost soul from the depths oh Hades. It can turn rock into gold. It is like opening your eyes for the first time. The song "Haja o que houver" can rescue true love from scratch. And you do want to make the world a better, nobler, gentler place. This is not rushed, artificially patched together music, this is the real thing, everything that any epic or intimate song aspires to be, as big as the ocean, as calm as the universe, as gentle as a kiss and as heart pounding as the first time you fall in love.

Now, ask me if i like MADREDEUS. :)

Damnit, he's right. But his review wasn't posted before I bought this CD. And now what? Yup, gotta have them all. Incredible music, light and airy, wonderful arrangements and instrumentals punctuated by an incredible voice. Who cares what she is singing, there is no translation needed for beautiful music and sound. Just let this FADO carry you away.

I was at Faro airport in the Algarve and wanted to buy something nice for my wife, so I asked the shop assisstant for a good Fado CD. He said that this one was the best. I guess he was right since my wife has not stopped listening to it - and I bought it five years ago! It is unusually dramatic for Fado, but in a nice way, still adhering to its roots. The lyrics make one want to learn Portugese. If you are not hooked by the opening track "O Pastor," then keep on listening, since the other tracks are just as good - some songs are soft, others dramatic, and some happy. There is something for everyone here.

This music is incredibly beautiful. This is the kind of music that artfully enables one to breathe calm vitality and joy. A unique, versatile, light voice is accompanied by playful instrumentation, including wonderful guitar work and interesting bits such as a mouth harp (on "Oxala"). This music is relaxing but not unemotional or dull. I like to think that it strikes a good balance of calm and vitality, a beautiful harmony that inspires. The songs also evoke images for me. For example, "Haja O Que Houver" creates a picture where I am running through a beautiful field full of wild flowers, sun shining and breeze in my hair. This CD is definitely worth having. My only wish is that the second half could be as uplifting as the first half.

Once I heard that if a sample of Earth's music was to travel throughout the Universe the songs of Madredeus had to be in it. The purity of Teresa's cristal voice can make of the greatest of the storms a mild spring breeze, can make a rose flourish, can turn a rock into a diamond. The touch of melancholy in their music represent much of the Portuguese way of facing life: full of emotion, always remembering happy days and longing for love. Once the voice of Portugal, Madredeus are becoming the voice of human feelings, of the whole Human Kind: they are heard across the world, from Japan to the U.S.A.. This antology collects the major works of Madredeus, and some of them have become a symbol of much in Portugal. E.g.: "Haja o que Houver" (track 4) (Whatever Is) has become the theme song of Expo '98, when Teresa sang it with Jose Carreras, an unforgetable moment. Tracks such as 5, 7, 10, 12, 15, 17 are a true symbol of Lisbon: the White city with its smell of sea anda flowers.

I had the great oportunity of atending a Madredeus concert in my city and since then, I'm hooked on the conforting voice and enchanting guitars of this great band.

For me, listening to this album is like visiting Portugal and feeling its pleasures.

I feel an awakening Lisbon with a cold wind blowing in my face when I listen to "Céu da Mouraria" or "O Tejo" I can almost smell someone preparing breakfast; "O mar" and "Ao longe o mar" remember me the strong conection between this country and the sea, a mix of mistery, love and the emptiness caused by the absence of the loved one; "Oxalá", "Alfama" and "A vaca de fogo" makes me to imagine the folklore and the way the Portugueses relate to it, "haja o que houver" and "o sonho" make me understand love as something that needs to be showed, but also not expected.

This is an album to be played at night, just before going to bed, and if possible, drinking a good glass of red Portuguese wine.

This music is amazing. I heard it playing at a cafe and felt compelled to go out and buy it instantly.

I have a six-month old baby who loves looking at ceiling fans. She'll watch them for hours with a silly, stupid smile on her face. That's how I look when I listen to this CD.

When i first listended to the first track i was mesermised by the music and her voice. It made me drew all my emotions out.I couldnt put it down. Her voice is that of an angel... everyone that listened to it loved it.

This music makes me want to cry over many of my lost loves...

I loved it.

The music creates an atmosphere that is eerie and manic. The woman's voice is hauntingly beautiful. This is an excellent CD. It is highly meditative, emotionally flawless, almost disturbing at times.