There are venues where Fado is performed, and venues where Fado lives on. The RC belongs to the latter. Ever since it was founded, the hall has welcomed voices that followed the fish and wine \u2014 initially amongst the tables, without a stage, as is the tradition in taverns. The stage only arrived decades later, and reluctantly: it was said that it distanced the voice from the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, the ritual remains almost unchanged. At half past nine, the lights dim to half brightness. The Portuguese guitar and the viola take their places first, tuning slowly, in no hurry to begin. The fado singer makes her way through the tables, her shawl draped over her shoulders, and silence falls of its own accord \u2014 no one has to ask for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The house\u2019s records hold names and dates: evenings that spanned generations, voices that sang here before going on to fill theatres, and customers who returned every week just to hear the same fado, sung in the same way. The walls \u2014 the very same ones that have stood since the building was first erected, and which are listed by UNESCO \u2014 echo the sound with a warmth that no modern room can match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is why there is no amplification. There never has been. The voice must fill the room on its own, just as it did in 1894. When the venue is full, the fado singer sings more softly, not louder \u2014 and the audience leans in to hear her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Portuguese guitar kept here has twelve strings and is over sixty years old. It belonged to the guitarist who provided the music for the RC\u2019s evening gatherings for three decades, and was \u2014 at his request \u2014 hung on the wall of the lounge, from where it is only taken down to be played. Those who play it today learnt from the man who left it behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the end of every evening, there is a moment that the regulars recognise: the \u2018fado menor\u2019, sung with the lights almost out, without warning and without introduction. It is the venue\u2019s farewell. When the lights come back on, there is always someone with red eyes asking for one more glass \u2014 and promising to return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fado is sung at the RC every evening at dinner. It\u2019s not a show: it\u2019s just the place doing what it\u2019s always done.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Every evening, when the lights dim and the guitar is tuned, the 1894 Hall returns to what it has always been: a Fado venue. We spoke to the singers who keep this tradition alive.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fado-musica"],"yoast_head":"\n