Search - Dulce Pontes :: Em Concerto: A Brisa Do Coracao

Since the death of Amalia Rodriguez, Dulce Pontes has been the queen of Portuguese fado (the word translates literally to "fate"). Times have changed and what was once a cry wrung from the guts of Lisbon's bawdiest waterfront dives now often falls somewhere between a polite drawing room exercise and trivial pop. This live double CD captures a singer in her vocal prime and proves that she is not a studio phenomenon but a concert artist of the first order. Her pipes are miraculous, and comparisons to Barbra Streisand are more apt than not, and on several levels. In Pontes's hands, the old-time dignified despair of fado materializes in fits and starts, although minus much of its bracing vulgarity. But whether she will evolve beyond mere histrionics to achieve that intimate understanding of tragedy shared by the greatest fadistas remains to be seen. --Christina Roden