During the erstwhile Portuguese days and later, we had many musical friends, some Portuguese, some Goan, who sang Fado. They were accompanied by our Tuna Académica, but some had their own accompanists. Among the names I can remember are Heitor de Vilhena, Maria Helena Miranda, Milucha, Chico Fonseca, Fátima Lobato Faria, Lúcio Miranda and José Velho. They all gave it their best but none in a manner that would make you go into raptures.
After a long hiatus finally, a star was born in the Goa firmament: Sónia Shirsat. This young lady had everything that made her the stuff of legends: a golden voice coupled with the capacity for a passionate and melodic rendition in a manner hitherto unseen. Endowed with many attributes on the stage she had a rare à vontade that placed any audience at ease. And what about her million-dollar smile? It is something that melts even the most demanding and intransigent fado aficionado. Her amorous and attractive physical presence is another asset. Once she starts belting out the very first phrase of her chosen Fado even diehards fall in love with this musical prodigy. She exhibits total mastery over herself and the chosen song. Further, as she goes on, she holds everyone in a magical embrace with her vibrant, open, well-modulated and emotionally expressive voice. The timbre, intonation, pitch, resonance and tonality are beyond compare. Perfection is the name of the game.
Without any formal training in music or singing, her romance with music started at the tender age of 9. Born of a Hindu father and a Catholic mother, it was the dominant influence of her mother (herself a good singer) who nurtured Sónia’s musical career and groomed her to be a Fadista. Since then she catapulted quickly up and ahead winning trophies and prizes both at the state and national level.
During the time between her Bachelors and Masters in Law, a scholarship from Fundação Oriente came her way recognizing her potential to shine in the world stage. The “Nightingale of Goa” proceeded overseas to deepen her knowledge in the land of Fado in 2006. Since then there was no looking back.
The simplicity and complexity of Fado’s melodic structure values the voice interpretation and also sublimates the sung repertoires. With a strong evocative inclination, fado’s poetry communes the interpreter, the musicians and the listeners. In quatrains or improvised quatrains, five-verse stanzas, six-verse stanzas, decasyllables and alexandrine verses, this popular poetry evokes themes related to love, luck, individual fate, and the city’s daily narrative.
Sensitive to social injustice, Fado gained interventionist contours on many occasions. Usually accompanied by a string trio the perfect rendition of the Fado requires an invisible and indiscernible understanding where at times the Fadista leads the string accompanists to a climax and at times the accompanists entice the Fadista into their magical embrace. The result? A masterpiece, an obra-prima, music divine!
Once Sónia acquired the mastery of Fado in Portugal she was performing with greats like Katia Guerreiro, Maria Ana Bobone, Raquel Tavares, Rao Kyao, Carlos do Carmo, Argentina Santos, Miguel Capucho, Ricardo Rocha and Mestro Antonio Chainho.
With irresistible charm she now draws a fulgurant pathway garnering the fruits of her innate talent and a lifetime of hard work. Sónia is the first one who was instrumental in introducing a blend of Fado as a fusion of Portuguese and Indian music. She was also the first one to put forth to her audience her concept that Fado exists in the whole world, in all languages and all cultures.
She has travelled all over the world as the cultural ambassador of Fado and has warmed the cockles of hearts of her audiences. Close to home she also croons for the dance band “Status Four” and lends her melodious voice to the most acclaimed “tiatrs”. Admirably, she can sing dulcet melodies in a dozen local and foreign languages and styles. Her manner of singing songs from various countries with an extremely emotive feeling lends her the aura of a diva.
For the sake of truth, it must be said that so much fame and fortune never went to her head. She remains the modest and unassuming girl she has ever been. To me, I can proudly say, she is still like the next-door neighbour, simple, friendly, amiable, always with a kind word in her mouth, a gentle hug and a warm handshake. And this is not only because her parents are my long-time friends, but all the more so, because of her exemplary upbringing.
Beyond doubt, she is the greatest Goa’s fadista of all times, a fadista “comme il faut”. May you continue your streak of success and best wishes for your project, “Fado in the City”. Through this new venture Sónia aims to take to the various corners of the state, this entrancing variety of song, with the aim of popularizing it even more.
(Dr. Francisco Colaço is a seniormost consulting physician, pioneer of Echocardiography in Goa.)
