Biography

AUDACIOUS TIMES

For October 2005, Mafalda Arnauth prepared a new album of original songs: a disc that covered the inspirations in her life and was forged by the influences of her relationships (friendships, loves, both joyous and sad, separations, disillusionments); her encounters with people that had affected her in some way; artistic references (Amália, Bethânia, Aznavour, Piazzola.); her personal path; her partnerships; and her philosophy of life, her attitude and vision, and her choices, doubts and concerns...

The new disc was therefore a synthesis of Mafalda Arnauth’s life at that time and all the experiences that had made her into the self that she reveals, almost completely, in “Diário.” [Diary] In creative terms, the diversity of the themes that comprise the recording gives it a dual and certainly a unique nature. It is an album that has a highly traditional side as well as a very modern one, aiming as it does to demystify the dark, heavy concept of fado.

Such was her audacity – that she could say, out loud, "the dark fado is going; away with the obstacles of fear".

And it is precisely this fado that Mafalda Arnauth is taking to the next level, taking it further, going beyond people, beyond far-off lands, even beyond herself. The first entries in her “Diary” were made in August 2005 before an audience of 2400 admirers in the stunning Concertgebouw concert hall in Amsterdam. In November 2005, the debut performance of ‘Diary – the Concert’ took place at the Belém Cultural Centre and began a long series of revelations that were shared on stage and totally given over to the overall idea behind the album and the fado artist’s life. The music, and the true stories it contains, came out completely on stage, fulfilling the idea of establishing an intimate connection with the public, a public that the artist has tried to represent in the most varied of ways, in her songs and in her expression, giving voice to the life of each of them in moments of pure emotion.

With this decisive album and concert, the artist put together one of the most significant musical groups of her career, bringing in Paulo Parreira on the Portuguese guitar, Luís Pontes on the classical guitar, Ricardo Cruz on the acoustic bass, and a special guest musician who had an unquestionable influence on Mafalda Arnauth’s basic development as a musician, Ramón Maschio, an Argentinian musician and composer. Over the course of 2005 they played on stages in Ceuti, Seville, Italy and the Azores.

The tour of the Benelux area, at the start of 2006, along with the release of her new album in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, established the theme that would come to characterize the whole of that year. Within a period of a few months, Mafalda Arnauth performed in Costa Rica, Angola, various parts of Spain, and Tenerife. She also participated in the concert that formed part of the Iberian-South American Summit, and gave various shows across Portugal, of which those in Porto and Beja stood out. It was also in this year that Magic Music took over the management of the artist, and thus a new phase in her career was definitively started.

In 2007, the “Diário” album came out in Spain and France and was followed by tours of these countries. One of the most remarkable of these performances was the one she gave in Paris at the official launch concert for the disc at the Cité de la Musique, one of the most famous concert halls in Europe.

Also in 2007 the artist was invited to participate in a special show in homage to Piazzola, when she sang, for the first time, some of the greatest Argentinian tangos. Under the direction of Daniel Schvetz, and accompanied by Ramón Maschio on classical guitar, Damien on double bass, and Ariel on the bandoneon, "Adiós Nonino" [Goodbye, Nonino], "Balada para un loco" [Ballad for a Madman] and "Naranjo en flor" [Orange in Bloom] were just a few of the tunes performed exclusively on that particularly emotional night.


FADO IN BLOOM...

It was during this period that the "Flor de Fado" [Flower of Fado] concert began to take shape. The more particular nature of this artist, who feels ever more fadista in her soul and musical in her voice, on the stage, and on her journey. It is not a typical “live album”, as its connection with a live performance might lead one to expect, but rather a “living album”, the continuation and complement of her concerts, through which she intentionally seeks to invite the public to get to know the various aspects of a single idea, a single intention. And the human warmth that emerged so clearly in “Diário” can be found, in its absolute form, in this Flower of Fado...