FRIDAY, MAY 17, 2024
Team Herald
On Sunday evening, the Sunset Lawns at Taj Cidade de Goa Heritage, Dona Paula, was buzzing with excitement as the audience where eagerly waiting to listen to not only Portuguese music but songs by a Portuguese soul singer who has created a name for herself internationally, Aurea.
The 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution of Portugal, was presented by Consul General of Portugal in Goa and CLP-Camões and the evening brought back songs that echoed the sentiments of the Revolution in Portugal in 1975.
Filmmaker Nalini Elvino de Sousa was the compere for the evening and introduced Maria Isabel de Carvalho Mendonça Raimundo Pereira Coutinho, Consul General of Portugal in Goa, who promised the audience a fun musical evening enjoying Aurea’s beautiful music and rhythms which are already so well known nationally and internationally. She was also proud to have Sonia Shirsat who opened the show for Aurea.
“It was a lovely evening with a nice crowd and ambience. Goans also enjoyed very contemporary Portuguese songs that we usually don’t get to hear in Goa. I enjoyed the show as I performed four songs with Dr Allan Abreu who accompanied me on keyboard. The first song was a song by Zeca Afonso called ‘Grândola Vila Morena’. Zeca Afonso was a Portuguese singer-songwriter who was very active during the Revolution movement. I sang ‘Autumn Leaves’ which I performed in French, Konkani and English. ‘Yo Moga’, a Konkani song is my original song and I concluded the set with Lorna’s ‘Kantaram korta’. I did not perform Fado because during the Carnation Revolution, Fado was not performed,” says Sonia Shirsat.
Nalini introduced Aurea as a singer embarked on her career in 2010, achieving remarkable success in short time with two Gold Records. Aurea also has one Platinum record and one double platinum record which admirable for a musical career of over a decade. She also received the Golden Globe for best individual performer and the winner of the best Portuguese Act from MTV Europe Music Awards not only once but twice.
Aurea walked up to the stage in a little black dress and her hair sleekly combed back. She mesmerised the audience singing several songs from her repertoire, in English and in Portuguese including her favourite songs in English, like ‘Busy for me’ and ‘Scratch my back’. She also sang two songs to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution in Portugal.
“Volta’ is one of my first songs that I wrote by myself and it means you have to come back because I want to come back to India. This was my first song written in Portuguese because I sing in English since I became a singer. Zeca Afonso’s ‘Canção de Embalar’ is a very beautiful song written about what was happening in Portugal during the Carnation Revolution and I think they're very meaningful and I have to sing it for the audience,” said Aurea, who has 14 years of music behind her. She also added, “I had to perform the two Portuguese songs that I'm not used to
singing in my shows but I think it's important to sing it here.”
“One of the things that I found in every country that I travel to is that music has no language and no nationality. The only thing that matters is how you perform and how you deliver the lyrics, the song and the music to other people. How you feel it and how you deliver it is common everywhere as music has no boundaries and that's beautiful,” concludes Aurea, who was accompanied by a keyboardist and guiatrist.
