Lisbon, Oct. 22, 2025 (Lusa) - Portuguese Fado is “the most genuine and universal music” of Lisbon, says researcher Sérgio Luís de Carvalho in his book “Lisboa Fadista”, drawing an analogy with the fado song “A Casa da Mariquinhas”.
“A Casa da Mariquinhas”, by Silva Tavares and Alfredo Marceneiro, was recorded by this fado singer in 1961, although its origins date back to 1913. Since then, it has been revisited by different poets and performed by various fado singers, from Amália Rodrigues to Gisela João, who in 2013 revisited “(A nova) Casa da Mariquinhas” with Capicua, in an approach to the economic crisis, and returned to it ten years later, in the midst of the housing crisis, also with Capicua, to make “O Hostel da Mariquinhas”, in a country that is increasingly “p’ró turista modernaço”.
The olisipógrafo argues that this fado sums up “what was the evolution and spirit of this typical song in the city where it was born”.
“A Casa da Mariquinhas”, which has had different verses, is “a fado that was ten different fados”, argues the researcher.
In its many versions, “A Casa da Mariquinhas” gave “drink to pain” by Amália and “to joy” by Hermínia Silva, was up for auction, as Fernando Maurício and Francisco Martinho noted, had “its windows bricked up” during the intervention of the ‘troika’, and now finds that “it's just a shame that the Portuguese can't afford a 3-roomed apartment”, with Gisela João and Capicua.
“Each version corresponds to a period not only in the history of this fado, but also in the history of fado and the history of Lisbon”, says the author, emphasising that the musical genre “helped to immortalise a unique city”.
In “Lisboa Fadista”, the researcher addresses the origins of fado: the Afro-Brazilian lundum thesis, the national romance thesis and the Arab thesis, which he acknowledges is not the most widely supported and defended, but cites recent research by Adalberto Alves, the opinion of Teófilo Braga (1843–1924) and Amália, who alluded to Arab influences. For Sérgio de Carvalho, this is “ a theory that should not be ignored”.
In his work, the olisipógrafo (Lisbon history and culture researcher)refers to the atmosphere of the taverns in Lisbon, which increased in number in the 19th century, but which date back to the 16th century, when there were “300 taverns in the city, which consumed more than 70 barrels a day”.
Fado developed in 19th-century Lisbon, particularly in taverns "where the guitar was strummed and fadinho was sung", but also in some aristocratic salons, despite criticism. Fado was "viewed with suspicion", associated with the fringe of society and fadistas, who were always armed with a knife.
The researcher points to the first half of the 19th century for the emergence of “fado as we know it”, “in an environment where prostitution, some delinquency and poorly concealed misery thrive”, a “bas-fond (underground) environment in some Lisbon neighbourhoods”.
It was in this century that fado found its “founding myth”, the singer Maria Severa (1820–1846), who had a romantic relationship with the 13th Count of Vimioso, a defender of the liberal cause. The brief romance reflects the atmosphere of the time, “ a popular and noble mix of bullfighters and fado singers waiting for bulls, singing and having fun in the gardens and taverns”.
The figure of Severa inspired the writer Júlio Dantas, who romanticised the life of the fado singer, who lived with the singer's mother on Rua Suja (Dirty Street), now Rua do Capelão, in Mouraria, Lisbon.
Fado did not escape “violent criticism”, in which “the prejudice of a certain intellectuality towards the genre is noticeable”, but fado from the taverns began to be sung and appreciated in class associations such as Fraternidade Operária and A Voz do Operário, contributing to the awareness of the working class, as intended by the unions and class associations.
Between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the next, “fado’s popularity grew”, which was given further impetus by the emergence of sound recordings, although critical voices were always heard, such as those of the doctor and writer Samuel Maia, the engineer, art critic and professor António Arroio, and the writer Albino Forjaz Sampaio.
Despite the criticism, fado became increasingly appreciated, until it was classified as Intangible Cultural Heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), a “slow process of consecration as a “legitimate” genre”, a “slow and gradual journey, not without difficulties, censorship, prejudice, advances and overcoming obstacles, which will take fado from the city’s ‘bas-fond’ to the global stage of so-called ‘world music’.”
In his work, Sérgio Luís de Carvalho also addresses the present day, after the “establishment of democracy”, in which fado “underwent a fruitful process of renewal”, diversifying it and establishing “new musical and artistic forms”.
Sérgio Luís de Carvalho has dedicated his research to Lisbon, having published, among others, works such as “Lisboa Maldita” (2023), “Lisboa Nazi” (2022), “Lisboa Árabe” (2022) and “Lisboa Judaica” (2021).
The novel “Anno Domini 1348”, by the writer and researcher, earned him the Ferreira de Castro Prize.
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