MARIZA February 24, 2009

Eisenhower Auditorium

“Fado,” the poet wrote, “makes its way in the world through the transparency of its lyrics,” and these Mariza sings with all her heart. Born in Mozambique but raised from age 3 in Portugal, Mariza grew up hearing countless interpreters of fado. “I lived in a traditional Lisbon neighborhood and have always sung the fado,” she says. “I know what it is; I understand myself through it.” Today, millions of music lovers know about the seductive lyrical qualities of fado thanks to Mariza’s intoxicating recordings and charismatic concert appearances on four continents. “Fado is the traditional music of Portugal—proud, austere, and deeply melancholic,” writes a Rolling Stone critic. “Mariza is the music’s biggest star for a reason: She sings it not as musty nostalgia but as exuberant twenty-first-century pop, with a low, mesmerizing alto that’s as commanding as any pop singer today. On her third album [Transparente], recorded in Rio de Janeiro … , Mariza stretches beyond fado’s rigid guitar arrangements, adding gentle Brazilian rhythms, classical strings, and horns to give the songs a quiet expansiveness.”

Official Website: http://www.cpa.psu.edu