As we begin the new year, the city’s arts and cultur- al festivals are already on the way, with The Script Road – Macau Literary Festival returning in March for its ninth edition. This year it will take place from March 12 to 22. And as we have now come to expect from this popular annual event, The Script Road will bring to town a host of talented authors and literary figures, as well as renowned artists, filmmakers and musicians, for its 11-day program.
This year’s Festival is based around the theme of “Sto- rytelling”, with special tributes to be paid to the memory of Macanese writer Henrique de Senna Fernandes, Chinese nov- elists Mao Dun and Zhang Ailing, Chinese philosopher Zhang Zai, and Portuguese authors Almada Negreiros and Camilo Pessanha.
As always, the Festival program will include more than just the written word, also presenting art exhibitions, theatre, film screenings and live music performances. Some of the guests attending this year include Mao Dun Literary Award-winning novelist Li Er, from China, Portuguese multifaceted author José Jorge Letria, Chinese-Tibetan filmmaker Pema Tseden, and Portuguese fado singer Ana Moura.
A major focus of the Festival is to encourage an interest in literature among the local youth, so many of the international guests will visit schools to speak with the students and inspire them to express their creative writing talents. Several books, including anthologies of short-stories, poetry and essays will also be released during the event.
After last year’s temporary change of location, this year the Festival will return once again to the Old Court Building at the heart of the historic centre of Macau, concentrating most of the activities around this part of the city, including the Portuguese Bookshop, Capitol Theatre, the Portuguese Consu- late, and a bit further afield at the Navy Yard No.2 and Macau Broadway Theatre as well.
“Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of human culture. The need to recount and create stories fascinates the human spirit in the process of searching for meaning in our existence, from the individual to humanity as a whole,” comments Alice Kok, Executive Director of the Festival. “This year’s Macau Lit- erary Festival will be a celebration of this particular form of art, in literature, theatre, music and film, as well as in visual arts. The uniqueness of Macau’s history will be our background, to gather and share with these worldwide talents their passion- ate stories. This coming Spring, may our earth be nurtured and our minds be inspired.”
With her unique vocal tone, Ana Moura is a major force in contemporary Fado singing, having gained worldwide recognition over a 17-year-long career and six albums. Her music has crossed language barriers with audienc- es on five continents, with memorable performances that have attract- ed the attention of renowned artists including Prince, Mick Jagger, Her- bie Hancock and Benjamin Clementine. In the year that commemorates the centennial of the birth of Amália Rodrigues – considered the Queen of Fado – Ana Moura returns to Macau for a concert at The Script Road – Macau Literary Festival. Speaking with CLOSER, she reveals details about her upcoming album, which will be released later this year, and the literature that has inspired her. From the unreleased recordings she made with Prince to the intimate evenings she organizes at home with other creative talents, Ana Moura reflects on the importance of sharing in her artistic development and admits: “I’m always looking for my pack and I’m always howling to see if we can get together”.
What are your expectations about coming to Macau to perform at The Script Road?
I have been to Macau about three times and I remember being very well received and still feeling the presence of Portuguese culture. And obvi- ously the contact with Chinese culture also attracted me a lot. One of the times I was in Macau was at an event for the Asian Indoor Games. I remember it being an amazing event where we did three rehearsals for the show, it was all very well organized.
Was that performance related to the release of your 2007 album Be- yond the Longing?
Exactly, so I haven’t performed my more recent albums in Macau yet, so that’s what I’m going to present this time. The expectations are high because I haven’t been to Macau for so long. I’ve been waiting so long to come back because I enjoyed it so much. I’m always talking about this with my musicians, and it will finally come true.
What musicians will you bring to Macau?
I’ll bring the traditional trio of Fado – a Portuguese guitar, bass and vi- ola, and then I’ll also bring drums and keyboards. On my new album I have added elements that are not typical in Fado, which is why I’m also bringing drums and keyboards this time.
You are going to release your seventh album this year. Can you tell us a bit about the process of creating this album?
I invited a producer I really admire, Larry Klein to produce the album, and we wanted to explore different paths. It is interesting to always listen to the perspective of those who are not Portuguese – How do you listen to our music, and what elements can you add? And then the creative studio work between me and him was fascinating. We added some unusual in- struments such as keyboards and drums. We enhanced the Portuguese guitar with electric guitar amplifiers; we explored and discovered new sounds and new ways of listening to our instruments, which we usually use in Fado. That is the biggest difference.
Regarding the theme of the lyrics, how did you introduce your emo- tions into these new musical expressions?
The feelings turn out to be the same, only the way we live them is differ- ent throughout our lives. And the themes are quite varied. Once, I tried to make more conceptual albums where I only spoke about one subject, but then realized that it could be a bit limiting. I’m actually a very emo- tional person – in one day I can cry a lot and laugh a lot (laughs). My records are representative of this whole emotionality that represents my personality.
Despite being a Fadista, do you always try to look for new musical dimensions on every album you release?
My comfort zone is never where I know everything is OK. My comfort zone is always trying something new and challenging myself to know a new facet of me – this is my comfort zone . The last album has been released for some time (2015). I have now recorded the basis of a new album that is currently being produced by another producer. All my re- cords are different, and it makes me feel motivated and feel that I still have a lot to explore and to know about myself.
This year is the centennial of the birth of Amália Rodrigues. What was her influence on your career?
She is a major influence, because Amália brings together the charac- teristics of an interpreter of excellence. She had an amazing voice and an extraordinary vocal spectrum, but it wasn’t just that that made her a singer of excellence. It was also the timbre of her voice, the way she used her voice to express how she felt, and all those records that she was exploring, those harmonies that kept ringing in her voice that are very rare, and therefore for me, she is an interpreter of excellence. And singing her songs and celebrating her this year is going to be very special to me. I use Amália a lot, not only as a musical reference, but also as a mentor.
You started singing Fado when you were a young girl, during musical evenings with your family. Do you like this kind of musical sharing circle?
Yes, I am always doing this, even here in Lisbon, I usually have some gatherings at home. I always do it by meeting with other creative people, even if it is not only music, but art in general, so that we can become inspired by each other. I am an aggregator, and I love the results of these meetings. They always make us create together and I think this is very important in music. I am reading a book called Women Who Run with the Wolves (by Clarissa Pinkola Estés) and there is a phrase that says “He who cannot howl will not find his pack” . This is a phrase that has stuck with me because I am always looking for my pack and I’m always howl- ing to see if we can get together; it’s a constant urge of mine.
Speaking of books, and since you are going to perform at the Macau Literary Festival, what books have you enjoyed reading more than once?
Book of Imaginary Beings by Jorge Luís Borges – I have read it more than once. It is a book like this that I resort to many times. But I could men- tion a few more, perhaps also José Saramago’s Death with Interruptions
Returning to music, what influences have you had beyond Amália Ro- drigues?
I was always influenced by various genres of music because my father played the guitar, and since I was very young I was always listening to music. It was very common, on weekends, for my father to have vinyls playing, and his taste was very diverse. I listened to Bossa Nova, Fado, folk music, Fausto Bordalo Dias, The Rolling Stones – it came to me this way. And as I grew up, I also started to discover other genres of music, and that has influenced my way of expressing myself in music. My last two albums, all my albums actually, are a reflection of that.
You mention The Rolling Stones, a band you have played with, as well as Prince. How have these collaboration influenced your career?
It was huge. So much so that Prince and I later became friends. I mean, with Mick Jagger too, but Prince had a lot of jam sessions and invited me a lot. In these sessions, we mixed various genres of music. I sang and he accompanied me on the electric guitar. His musicians, who are funk musicians, also accompanied me, and that gave me the desire to always mix different genres. Their influence on my career was very important because it brought me a security that I didn’t yet have. Because suddenly having musicians of this caliber think that the timbre of my voice was rare, it’s different. It made me feel special, and at the time I still didn’t have that security, and they were very important for that.
Prince left behind thousands of unreleased recordings. Is there a pos- sibility of releasing any of the recordings you did with him, if his family authorizes it?
There is a possibility. We recorded things. I don’t know if they will come out, but they exist. Prince passed away in April 2016, and that year in January I was with him in the studio and we recorded a song that I loved to do, but has never been released.
Throughout your career you have performed in many countries on all continents. What is it like to sing to audiences who do not understand Portuguese?
It’s very interesting because we can see the personality of other cultures, the countries we visit, the way they manifest themselves throughout the concert. For example, when I go to Mexico it is very common for Mexi- cans to sing and say, ‘Oh, oh, oh!’. It’s very funny. And then, in northern Europe, people can be a little bit shy, but then by the end of the concert they won’t let us go off stage, always asking for more. There are different ways of expressing yourself. Even if people don’t understand the lyrics, they can feel it, and I think that’s the greatest power of music.
During your performances, you like to dance to the music, something that is not very common for Fado singers. Does the music take you over?
I like to feel the vibration of the sounds hitting my body. Yes, I love the way music transforms me and dance is part of it, no doubt.