Mafalda Arnauth

Mafalda Arnauth is a fado singer. She was born in Lisbon, Portugal, in October 1974 and started her career in 1995 when invited by João Braga to participate in a concert at S. Luis's Theater. Arnauth released a debut album in 1999. It received positive reviews and won the Prize for Best Upcoming Voice by the weekly magazine Blitz. She performed concerts in the Netherlands, in the Louisiana Centre (Denmark), and in Italy at the festival Sete-Sois, Sete-Luas and the Centro Cultural de Belém (Lisbon). Her second album, Esta Voz Que Me Atravessa (English: This voice that goes through me) was released in 2001, produced by Amélia Muge and José Martins. In praise of this album, Andreas Dorschel writes: "capable of the tenderest nuances of voice, she [Mafalda Arnauth] ingeniously counterbalances them with a roughness that calls to mind fado’s subcultural origins.“Mafalda Arnauth's third album, Encantamento, was self-produced. The singer said of it that it "leaves fatality, disgrace, and nostalgia behind. Hope is fed on sadness; inspiration on suffering; strength and courage on difficulties."