This stage design and the atmosphere of this concert is straight out of the film Fados by Carlos Saura, representing a typical fado house in Lisbon where this style of music is sung and the audiences go along to pay their homage to the singers and musicians. This last film, made by the veteran director from Aragon, completes the trilogy that he filmed about 19th Century Urban music. Although these styles of music can be obviously identified with specific geographical areas, they have become part of universal musical heritage. Light, music and dance are the three pillars that come together in Iberia y Tangos, and which achieves a unique maturity in Fados. Saura did not limit himself to presenting a succession of examples of this music. Instead he used the term “fado” to describe a cocktail of historical elements and distinctive musical features that allowed traditional fados to be related to flamenco, rap, echoes of jazz, glimpses of tango, daring shots, and documental images from the archive. He also combined this with live images to give a kaleidoscopic effect that is at once Portuguese and universal. Different generations of fado singers, instrumentalists and singers come together in Fados and Casa de Fados - well known figures play with young artists who are at the cutting edge of the genre, followers of legends like Amalia Rodrigues and Caros do Carmo.

“I love fado because it is such a nostalgic, melancholic type of music. It was born from farewells, from when people left for the colonies. It stayed alive due to these feelings. Fado is forceful; it is sincere and honest and expresses the feeling of the Portuguese character”.  Carlos Saura