Customer Reviews

Canto

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am portuguese, but I am not much of a fado lover.
What I like is Carlos Paredes' music; I find him the only composer to make me feel as I do when listening to J.S.Bach. I almost start believing in God.
So, this music is like the sound of the Portuguese Soul, but it is almost like sacred.
Mísia managed to sing it, with the extraordinary arrangements by Henri Agnel, adding a string quintet to the usual guitars of fado. The lyrics, from contemporary Portuguese poets are great.Even the album cover and the booklet are beautiful...
What else can I say? Now, when ever I listen to Verdes Anos, only with the guitars, I cant help hearing in my mind « Era o Amor...»....

In this album, Misia takes a new direction, setting her rich resonant voice against the rich resonant voices of cello, viola, and violin. The songs, of course, are sad -- reflections on the sorrow that drapes every joy in life. It's perfect for an afternoon when you feel like crying your eyes out.

If you are a beginner to fado, I would recommend that you first buy Paixoes Diagonais, which is not "pure" fado either but features more of the characteristic Portuguese guitar. The gitarra is mandolin-like on high notes and zither-like (twangy) on low notes. Very different from the velvety overtones of orchestral instruments played with a bow.

Then you might try Ritual, which is pure Misia and gitarra -- all out, boohoo Portuguese torch singing. Grab a hanky.

This is one my most favorite fado records. Canto is another one of Misia's experiments with instrumentation and commissioning lyrics by contemporary poets. Almost all songs, except for the last instrumental track Balada de Coimbra by Jose Eliseu, are composed by the Portuguese guitar legend Carlos Paredes. Enigmatic as any other fado record, these melancholic chants
stand out for the extraordinary vocals and wonderful instrumental arrangement. Jose Manuel Neto does a perfect job on the Portuguese guitar and string quartet from the Camerate
de Bourgogne makes a heart-breaking gem of Balada de Coimbra. Misia is at her best at Ah Nao II, and Tia Minha Gentil is just like sitting in a restaurant at Cais da Ribeira in Porto with a bottle of port and bacalhau, pondering about fatalism and exquisite frustration about thwarted love and matters that cannot ever be changed...

Mista has continued to impress me with her style of Fado music and this is one of the great ones.

Most Fado singers interpret passionate singing to mean an excessive style involving screaming, whispering, and a generally discomforting vocal technique. Not so Misia. Her deep, warm, and soulful voice remains beautiful throughout her very emotional and expressive singing - she is a true singer's Fado singer, if not the only one today (perhaps exempting Cristina Branco).

This record presents many of Carlos Paredes' elaborate compositions that combine Fado sentiment, sound, instrumentation and technique with the most elaborate of both constructive and improvisational techniques - reminding of J.S.Bach in many ways. But it presents them with words newly written especially for this recording project.

While my understanding of Portuguese is very limited and I cannot judge the quality of the text, the result is wholly satisfying on the musical level - the text blends perfectly with the music, and elevates Paredes' work to another plane. Misia was the logical choice for performing this set, she gives it her all, and seems to be wholly fused with the work.

A composer that truly stands alone in his genre, a singer that excels in the same way, and a recording that makes you feel a special bond developed between the two via the music. A recording not to be missed.

Even my wife, who always insists that she must understand the text to truly enjoy a performance (and who often complains that Fado and Fado singers get on her nerves) loves this disk.

Being from the Netherlands, I had never heard about Carlos Paredes before. I understand that this album is more or less a tribute to him and his music. Although I like 'Canto' a lot, maybe it should not serve as a first step to getting more into Paredes' music. Sure, I would like to know more about him, but at least to me it was not because of what Mísia presents on this record.

What I do like about 'Canto' is that it is so different. Misía seems to explore all kinds of new colors in the palette of her own voice. She creates a wonderful new sound, which is very refreshing, while staying entirely 'Mísia'. On this album, her singing never fails to convince me that her fado capabilities are only just a fraction of what she has to offer as a musician. In that sense I hope that 'Canto' will not be a complete sidestep.

If you want Paredes, buy Paredes. If you want fado, go for 'Ritual' or 'Garras dos Sentidos'. But if you wonder if there is more, definitely try this one.

The haunting strains of this cd immediately transport me to another realm. I am American and don't speak any Portuguese much less write poetry, but in this album Misia served as my muse inspiring me to try and write a fado poem - or at least what I thought such poems might be like - in English. So I offer it here as both a review and a tribute to her artistry in this excellently conceived recording.

The siren of heartbreak sings songs to cajole
Drawing me further into the treacherous shoal
I search for the route that would lead towards my goal
All the time not knowing it rests in my soul

Are those thundering hooves I hear from behind?
Chasing me into a corner in which I can't hide
Everywhere I turn the truth surrounds my mind
Have I no choice but to live the fate of my kind?

Swallows circle the belfry exulting in joyous flight
The owl solemnly contemplates the middle of night
Only in the truth of my soul's invisible sight
Can I live the swallow's joy - and know the owls plight

Coda:
To embrace a wounded soul
Is the most beautiful love of all
Allowing what once could have been
To become possible again

Every time I play this CD I cannot play it just once. Misia is a singer with real talent, every new album is better than her last. Canto is a collection of songs that even if you can't understand the language they still have the power to move you. Beautifully crafted music superbly sung and played.