Melancholic melodies from the distant land Once someone said/ That fado put to sleep/ Those who heard its moaning/ That fado takes away our energies/ That it takes away our happiness/ That it is a song of the defeated/ It is a heresy, it is a sin/ To say such things about fado/ To make such a statement/ If fado is sad, when it is sung/ It only brings to tears/ Those who have a heart. Fado (Portuguese:destiny, fate) is a music genre which can be traced from the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. In popular belief, fado is a form of music characterised by mournful tunes and lyrics, often about the sea or the life of the poor. However, in reality fado is simply a form of song which can be about anything, but must follow a certain structure. The music is usually linked to the Portuguese word saudade (loosely translated in English it could be understood as nostalgia felt while missing something or someone important), a word describing a sentiment. Joana Amendoeira is a new generation ‘Fado Singer’ and one of the youngest singers to have specialised in this traditional classical genre of music. Recipient of many awards, she has performed extensively in Portugal and around the world. She has several record albums to her credit. A much acclaimed ‘fadista’, she has contributed to some of the top fado anthologies. Through her voice, Fado reaches unique, sublime moments, powered by her sensuous and moving harmonies. In 1994, she participated in the Lisbon Grand Fado Gala, where she received enthusiastic praise from the jury and the audience. She won the Female Interpreter Award at the Oporto Gala. From then on, she has been performing around Portugal and the world. Rabindranath Tagore Centre, ICCR Calcutta, in collaboration with the Embassy of Portugal, presents a classical vocal concert by Joana Amendoira & troupe. Event: Classical vocal concert by Portuguese artiste Joana Amendoira & Troupe When: Today at 6.30 pm Where: Satyajit Ray Auditorium, Rabindranath Tagore Centre, ICCR, 9 A Ho Chi Minh Sarani

Art

Till November 7 (except Sundays and holidays) at CIMA Gallery, #2485 8717/8509, Monday (3 pm - 7 pm), Tuesday - Saturday (2 pm - 7 pm): An exhibition of recent works of Yusuf. Till October 31 at Aakriti Art Gallery, 12/3A Hungerford Street, #2289 3027/5041; 12 noon - 7 pm: GenNext IV — an exhibition of works by artists below 40 from different parts of the world. Till October 31 at Chitrakoot Art Gallery, 55 Gariahat Road, #24752275; 3 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of paintings by Soma Halder. Till October 31 at G.C. Laha Centenary Fine Arts Gallery, 7 Chittaranjan Avenue; 4 pm - 7 pm: Bangio Sanskriti Parisad presents a children’s art exhibition. Till October 31 at Ambo Art, 3 Pretoria Street, 2nd floor; 12 noon - 7 pm: Paintings featuring the works of Abhijit Das, Aninda Mukherjee, Apurba Majumdar, Nikhil Biswas, Rintu Roy, Samir Roy, Tanuj Sardar and Tapas Sardar. Till October 31 at Experimenter, 2/1 Hindusthan Road, #2463 0465; 11 am - 7.30 pm: In Memory of an Ideal — an exhibition of paintings by Ng. Bidyut Singha. Till November 3 at The Halo Heritage Art Gallery, 26 Ritchie Road; 1 pm - 9 pm: Across the Universe & U — an exhibition of paintings by Shomi Banerjee. Till November 6 at Gallery Exposure, 54B Mahanirban Road; 3 pm - 8 pm: Vibgyor presents Affordable Art — paintings featuring the works of Aditya Basak, Ashok Mullick, Bijon Chowdhury, Chhatrapati Dutta, Dilip Choudhury, Gopi Gajwani, Jahar Dasgupta, Lalu Prasad Shaw, Manu Parekh, Manoj Dutta, Partha Bhattacharjee, Prokash Karmakar, Rabin Mondal, Ramananda Bandopadhyay, Samir Aich, Sekhar Kar, Sekhar Roy, Syam Kanu Borthakur, Subrata Gangopadhyay, Suhas Roy, Sumon Roy, Swapan Polley and Tapan Mitra. Till November 15 (except Monday) at Bose Pacia, Stephen Court, 18 Park Street, #4001 0148; 11 am - 7 pm: Re-Claim/ Re-Cite/ Re-Cycle, a group show curated by Bhavna Kakar. Till November 21 (except Sundays & holidays) at Tejas Gallery, 11 Mayfair Road, #9830049825; 1 pm - 7.30 pm: Tejas Gallery is hosting its third annual Devi show by 24 artists. The exhibits, numbering approximately 70, include both gods and goddesses. Till November 28 (Sundays by appointment) at Idiyas Gallery, 15 Dover Road, #9831005003, 65508418; 10.30 am - 6.30 pm: Color Immersion — an exhibition of the works by Atin Basak, Ramananda Bandyopadhyay, Subrata Saha, Aditya Basak, Subrata Gangopadhyay, Subrata Pal, Suhas Roy, Bratin Khan, Gourango Beshai, Sibsaday Chaudhuri and others.

DRAMA

October 29 at Sisir Mancha; 6.30 pm: Little Thespian will stage Lohar. Playwright: Balwant Gargi. Light design: Tapas Sen. Music: Ain Rashid Khan. Design & direction: S.M. Azhar Alam. October 29 & 30 at Khardah Rabindra Bhavan; 11 am onwards: Sukchar Pamcham Repertory Theatre hosts a festival of plays for school children. Today: Acharya Prafullachandra by Chakmaki, children’s drama group of Kalyani municipality; Na Sundar by Ushumpur Adarsha High School for Girls; Galileor Doorbeen by Belghoria Mahakali Uchcha Balika Vidyalaya; and Shakti by St Augustine’s Day School. October 29 at Academy of Fine Arts & October 31 at Girish Mancha; 6.30 pm: Gandhar will stage Kachher Manush, with Debshankar Haldar and Bejoylakshmi Barman in the lead. Direction: Gautam Haldar, filmmaker. October 30 at Madhusudan Mancha; 6.30 pm: Blind Opera will stage its latest production, Kamalasagar. Direction: Ashok Pramanik. October 30 at Girish Mancha; 6.30 pm: Purba Paschim presents Patolbabu Film Star, based on a story by Satyajit Ray. Dramatised and directed by Ramaprasad Banik. October 30 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: Titumeer — a PLT production, written and directed by Utpal Dutt. October 31 at Academy of Fine Arts; 3 pm: Sayak presents Dournama, directed by Meghnad Bhattacharya.

PERFORMING ARTS

October 30 at Sree Thyagaraja Hall, P-530 Raja Basanta Roy Road; 6.30 pm: Rasika Ranjana Sabha presents a Bharata Natyam recital by Meenakshi Chitharanjan of Chennai. October 31 at Calcutta School of Music, Sandre Hall; 7 pm: A piano recital and Broadway songs by Bernice Da Gama Rose and Neecia Majolly. November 1 at Rabindra Sadan; 6 pm: Shree Ranjani presents The Enchanting Seven, an instrumental and vocal ensemble based on folk and Hindustani classical music. Conceived and directed by Tejendra Narayan Majumdar and Manasi Majumder. Vocal recital by Pandit Rajan Mishra and Pandit Sajan Mishra with Pandit Kumar Bose (tabla) and Sanatan Goswami (harmonium).

BOOK exhibition

Till November 23 at Worldview Bookstore, Jadavpur University campus, Subarna Jayanti Bhawan; 11 am - 7 pm: Penguin Books India, in association with Worldview Bookstore, presents Penguin Classics Library. This month-long exhibition also includes talks, discussions and readings at the venue.

TALK

October 29 at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Vivekananda Hall; 6 pm: Swami Vedaswarupananda will speak in Bengali on Gita. October 29 at Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 19B Raja Rajkrishna Street; 7 pm: Swami Samshuddhanandaji will speak in Bengali on Valmiki Ramayana.

ALBUM LAUNCH

October 29 at Crosssword Bookstore; 7 pm: Aachhi Opekshay — an audio CD of rock-based Bengali songs by Neepabithi. Children from the NGO, Sanlaap, will be present.

FILM FESTIVAL

Till November 1 at Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre, 36C S.P. Mukherjee Road; 6.30 pm: The Seagull Foundation for the Arts presents Food Film Fiesta. Today: Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart (Wayne Wang/ 1985/ English/ 88 minutes)

EXHIBITION

Till November 5 at 57/9 Ballygunge Circular Road; 11.30 am - 6.30 pm: Soumya’s Creation presents an exhibition of children’s clothes for infants to 5-year-olds. The collection includes cotton jersey, T-shirt, jacket, night suits, track pants, rompers, dungarees, skirts, capris, jeans and shirts.

BIRTH ANNIVERSARY

October 30 at Weavers Studio Centre for the Arts, 94 Ballygunge Place, #2461 3145: Mahul recitation band celebrates Sukumar Ray’s 122nd birth anniversary. Featuring an exhibition on Sukumar Ray (3 pm to 5 pm) and performance by Mahul from 5 pm to 7 pm. October 31 at Tapan Theatre; 6.30 pm: Anya Theatre presents Sukumar Sandhya. Featuring workshop-based production Lakshmaner Shaktishel, directed by Goutam Halder, and screening of the documentary, Sukumar Ray, by Satyajit Ray.

FESTIVAL

October 29 (4 pm onwards) & October 30 (6 am - 9 pm) at Shree Shyam Mandir Ghusuridham, 122 J.N. Mukherjee Road, #2655 5366: Shree Shyam Jayanti Mahotsav 2009 featuring Bhajan Sandhya and Shree Shyam Akhand Jyoti Paath today; and Puja, Prasad, Akhand Jyoti and Bhajan kirtan tomorrow.All those who wish events to be included in this column should write not less than a week ahead to: Time out, The Telegraph, 6 Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta-700 001; Fax: 2234-8244

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All those who wish events to be included in this column should write not less than a week ahead to:

Time out, The Telegraph, 6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta-700 001;
Fax: 2234-8244