Search - Cristina Branco :: Post-Scriptum

Profound with literary depth and passion

A.Trendl HungarianBookstore.com | Glen Ellyn, IL USA | 04/08/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Post-Scriptum" gives us an almost literary depth and passion to what might seem on the front-side a delicate collection of mere Portuguese ballads. I am glad to have found this CD.This is best listened to in summer-time, with open windows so that Branco's beautiful serenedical voice wafts out toward your neighbors. You might've heard on her on NPR, but the CD's crisp-clean freshness does what radio cannot do, and that is to bring the artist into your living room.Delightful, and yet there is a sobriety in her voice. Romantic -- she might be the woman you fell in love with years ago, and all you have now is her songs charming you in your head. Fans of Pablo Neruda's or Victor Hugo's love poetry might find "Post-Scriptum" a fine choice.My personal favorite is "Preludio." There is some which reminds me of Django Reinhardt in the guitar.I regret I know no Portuguese, and for those who do know the language, I expect the CD to be that much more valuable.I fully recommend "Post-Scriptum" by Cristina Branco.Anthony Trendl"

The Heart of a Woman

racantwell | Eastsound, WA | 05/30/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Cristina Branco's earthy and emotional vocalization will transport you to another place far, far away and deep inside your own soul. Close your eyes; imagine yourself pedaling an old bike down the back streets of Lisbon on a hot afternoon; stretch out on the white beaches and connect with the heart of a woman whose language you don't speak, whose country you do not know. Indeed, Branco transcends language, culture and gender and touches you. She is not faint, delicate or obvious-- the music is poetic, romatic, emotional and inspired. You will enjoy Post-Scriptum, you will come back to Fado."

Serenity and passion

Isabel De Sena | NY | 09/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is unfortunate that such a gifted singer as Cristina Branco ends up compared to Amalia Rodrigues, or that her singing style is reduced to a category--fado. In fact, since the 80s, a number of new singers have appeared in Portugal who, while not repudiating the fado tradition, have done much to move it beyond the frozen state to which it had been reduced as Portugal's main official cultural export during the Salazar dictatorship. Unlike many fado singers, these younger artists are far better trained, sometimes abroad (listen to Carlos do Carmo, their predecessor, and in a sense spiritual father), and they have all incorporated a much more open sensibility. Listen to Camane, for instance, and you'll find the male equivalent of Cristina Branco: a voice so pure it hurts at times. The first song on this record is beautiful, but the last one is bound to make any Portuguese person cry. That tired cultural saw--saudade--is never mentioned, but the song is suffused with it, and absence lingers in one's mind and under one's skin long after the last note of the piano acompaniment has died out."