Fado princess wows crowd
at Theatre Outremount

Carminho’s soulful and dynamic performance garners three standing ovations

By Byron Toben

October 23, 2023

Fado, a Portuguese melancholic soul music popular in Portugal and Brazil, influenced by ocean tragedies, the lives of poor people, the African slave trade and even some elements of jazz, is increasingly popular in North America, justifying a tour by the “princess of Fado”, Carminho.

This dynamic performer is the daughter of a legendary fado singer, Teresa Siquiera. Like mother, like daughter. See my list of many parent/child combos at the end of this article.

The tour was brought to Montreal on October 18, courtesy jointly of Gabriel Safdie’s Traquen’Arts and Theatre Outremont. About 600 attendees packed the place. Many seemed familiar with some of her most popular refrains, resulting in three standing ovations during the encores.

Carminho, draped in a black gown with one leg showing, appeared alone on the sparse stage, which eventually opened to reveal her flanked by four superb guitarists – Andre Dias, Flavio Cardoso, Tiago Maia and Pedro Geraides. She even played a Portuguese guitar herself during one number. Her singing was balanced by her talking about key moments in her life and her observations, some with humour.

Traquen’Arts continues to bring the music and traditions of the world to our attention.

For a taste of the show, here is one of her official videos, O quarto (fado Pagem):

Traquen’Arts continues to bring the music and traditions of the world to our attention.

Oh yes, as promised above, other famous parent/child combos include:

Judy Garland and Liza Minelli
Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra
Nat “King” Cole and Natalie Cole
Woody Guthrie and Arlo Guthrie
Johnny Cash and Roseann Cash
Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus

Viewers are welcome to add to this list others they can think of.

Images: courtesy of Traquen’Arts

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Byron Toben, a past president of The Montreal Press Club, has been WestmountMag.ca’s theatre reviewer since July 2015. Previously, he wrote for since terminated websites Rover Arts and Charlebois Post, print weekly The Downtowner, and print monthly The Senior Times. He also is an expert consultant on U.S. work permits for Canadians.