Artist Profiles: Celeste Rodrigues

Celeste Rodrigues – Photo by Estelle Valente

Maria Celeste Rebordão Rodrigues, better known as Celeste Rodrigues, was born in Alpedrinha, Fundão, on March 14, 1923. She is a veteran fado performer and younger sister or fado legend Amália Rodrigues.

Celeste Rodrigues has been performing fado live for over 70 years. Even though her discography includes nearly 60 releases, many are singles and EPs, and, with the exception of Fado Celeste (2007), almost all are extremely difficult to find. Despite her reluctance to record, many of the songs that are most closely associated with her sit firmly in fado’s canon, including “Lenda das algas”, “Marcha de Alfama” and “Saudade, vai-te embora.”

She continues to sing in some of the most illustrious fado houses in Lisbon.

Discography:

Fado Celeste (Coast Company, 2007)
Celeste Rodrigues: Studio 102 Essentials (Studio essentials, 2009)

Author: Angel Romero

Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.

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