Carlos do Carmo - A Arte e a Musica de Carlos do Carmo

Carlos do Carmo
( 21 December, 1939 )
Carlos do Carmo has been involved with Fado since an early age. Son of a prominent personality of the Fado universe - Lucilia do Carmo – he told us that he began listening to Fado in his mother’s womb...
Carlos Alberto do Carmo Almeida took the stage name of Carlos do Carmo. He is the only son of the great fado singer Lucilia do Carmo and of the producer Alfredo Almeida. He was born in Lisbon on December 21, 1939.
He studied Hotel Management in Switzerland. As this course included accountancy and management, and several foreign languages, he is fluent in French, English, German, Italian, and Spanish.
After his father’s death in 1962, Carlos do Carmo inherits the management of Casa de Fados Faia, opened by his parents when he was 8 years old. The following year he begins his artistic career as a singer and maintains both functions for many years. He has been married for more than 40 years, has 3 children and 4 grandchildren.
Carlos do Carmo has been involved with Fado since an early age. Son of a prominent personality of the Fado universe - Lucilia do Carmo – he told us that he began listening to Fado in his mother’s womb, and his birth was mentioned in the newspaper "Guitarra de Portugal".
Upon starting managing the Fado house (Casa de Fados) he pays more attention to this kind of music he had known since his childhood. In spite of only knowing by heart the fado "Loucura", by Julio de Sousa, when he sings it in 1963 at a friend’s house his singing is so highly praised that he records it in a EP with his friend Mario Simoes.
Due to his great success in radio broadcasts, the following year he records "Carlos do Carmo com Orquestra de Joaquim Luiz Gomes". Ever since that day Carlos do Carmo presents his own repertoire in regular editions that are awarded for its quality and number of sales, thus building and consolidating an exemplary career within the Portuguese artistic world.
His first LP, called "O Fado de Carlos do Carmo", was released by Alvorada in 1969, but a must in the history of Fado is the record "Um Homem na Cidade", released by Trova in 1977, in which Carlos do Carmo sings poems by Ary dos Santos in a series of innovative musical compositions.
Within the scope of Carlos do Carmo discography, we must stress another project also with poems by Ary dos Santos – the 1984 "Um Homem no Pais" – that was the first CD edition by a Portuguese artist.
Since his first informal presentation for some friends, he has been singing live on stage in five continents.
His shows at the Olympia in Paris, at the Frankfurt and Wiesbaden Opera Houses, at the Canecao in Rio de Janeiro, at the Helsinki Savoy, at the Paris National Auditory, at the Hague’s Queen Theatre, at the Saint Petersburg Theatre, at the Place des Arts in Montreal, at the Tivoli in Copenhagen, and at the Memorial da America Latina in Sao Paulo, are some of the highlights of his career as a Fado singer.
Up until the end of 1979, he combines the Faia management with his artistic career, and performs daily with his mother at his Fado House. He also appears on TV and, in 1972, produces and hosts a weekly show on RTP. The "Convivio Musical" was a show that presented some of the major Portuguese and international singers.
In the early 1970s he began his international tours in Angola, United States, and Canada, and, in 1973, did his first concert in Brazil singing with Elis Regina at the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro.
In 1976 he is the Portuguese representative at the Eurovision Competition in the Netherlands with the song "Uma Flor de Verde Pinho", by Manuel Alegre and Jose Niza. That same year he was the only artist at the Festival RTP da Cancao, and later released the record "Uma Cancao Para a Europa", featuring the winning song and others: "Estrela da Tarde", "No teu Poema" ou "Lisboa, Menina e Moca".
Carlos do Carmo sang for the first time at the Olympia, in Paris, on October 11 and 12, 1980, and at the Alte Opera in Frankfurt in 1982. This show was such a success that it was recorded and he was invited to return to this stage the two following years.
This Fado singer did major shows to celebrate his 25th, 30th, 35th, and 40th career anniversaries. His international career was promoted - as he states – “by the Portuguese who left my homeland in search of a better life and that introduced me to the cultural producers and agents from the various countries they were living in”.
To celebrate his career’s 25th anniversary, he toured the United States, Europe, and Brazil and this tour revealed his high popularity particularly amongst the Portuguese communities abroad.
In the beginning of the 90s he fell from the stage to the first row at a show in Bordeaux – a 5 meter fall approximately – and endured a long recovery. He returned in March 1991 with the show called "Vim Para o Fado e Fiquei" at Casino Estoril.
Two years later, in 1993, he is back on the road to celebrate his career 30th anniversary and released - with Seleccoes do Reader's Digest – the collection "O Melhor de Carlos do Carmo" where he comments on every record.
A concert at the Centro Cultural de Belem Hall, released in CD, celebrated Carlos do Carmo 35 years as a fado singer. And, for the celebration of his career’s 40th anniversary, the chosen venue was Coliseu dos Recreios in Lisbon. This show will also be recorded in CD and DVD.
Carlos do Carmo sang several fados and recorded huge successes. His communication skills allowed him host the "Carlos do Carmo" TV talk show, broadcasted over 30 times between 1997 and 1998, in which this singer invites several guests to talk about various issues – from the obvious Fado to other music’s, history and patrimony, theatre plays or television hosts.
Regardless of some interruptions due to health problems – an aneurism in 2001 and a heart surgery in 2007 – Carlos do Carmo is actively committed to sing before the wide audiences that have been faithful to him for more than 4 decades.
His intense activity includes live shows in all the major international halls and a strong media image, confirmed in the TV shows he hosted, conveying valuable information on the history of Fado, and a close relationship with the younger generations, often performing with other new artist as Camane or Mariza.
Carlos do Carmo is involved in various projects whose main goal is promoting Fado, such as his participation in the widest collection on Fado ever released, "Um Seculo de Fado" by Ediclube; consulting member of Museu do Fado, and consultant for the film “Fados” by the famous director Carlos Saura.
He celebrated his 40 years in Fado in 2003 with two concerts at Coliseu dos Recreios, later released in CD and DVD, and the Museu do Fado featured the "Carlos do Carmo: Um Homem no Mundo" exhibition on his long and successful career.
On November 7, 2007, Carlos do Carmo presented, at Museu do Fado, his most recent record, an album called "A Noite", featuring unpublished texts by Nuno Judice, Fernando Pinto do Amaral, Maria do Rosario Pedreira, Julio Pomar, Luis Represas, Jose Luis Tinoco, and Jose Manuel Mendes for the traditional fado music by Armandinho, Joaquim Campos, and Alfredo Marceneiro. This release also encompassed a small exhibition on his most recent record and on this fado singer who is about to celebrate his 45 years in this business.
Some awards:
- Premio Melhor Interprete do Ano, Casa da Imprensa, 1967;
- Premio Pozal Domingues "Melhor Disco do Ano" (para o seu primeiro LP, "O Fado de Carlos do Carmo"), 1970;
- Premio Nova Gente "Fadista", 1983;
- Titulo de Cidadao Honorario do Rio de Janeiro, 1987;
- Premio "Prestigio", Grande Noite do fado, Casa da Imprensa, 1991;
- Grau de Comendador da Ordem do Infante Dom Henrique, Presidencia da Republica, 1997;
- Globo de Ouro "Excelencia e Merito", SIC, 1998;
- Globo de Ouro "Melhor Disco do Ano" ("Nove Fados e Uma Cancao de Amor"), SIC, 2002;
- Premio Goya "Melhor Cancao Original" ("Fado da Saudade"), Academia Espanhola das Artes Cinematograficas, 2008.
Selected information sources :
"Guitarra de Portugal", December 28, 1939;
"Expresso", August 13, 1994;
"Expresso", November 30, 1996;
"Publica", December 6, 1998;
"A Capital", October 11, 2003;
Baptista-Bastos (1999), "Fado Falado", Col. "Um Seculo de Fado", Lisboa, Ediclube;
Pereira, Sara (Dir), 2004, Carlos do Carmo: um homem no mundo, catalogo de exposicao, Lisboa, EGEAC/ Casa do Fado e da Guitarra Portuguesa;
Teles, Viriato, 2003, Carlos do Carmo. Do Fado e do Mundo: uma conversa em oito andamentos, Lisboa, Garrido.
carlosdocarmo
Last update: February/2008
По материалам Музея Фаду, Лиссабон
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