Cristina Branco - Corpo iluminado (2001)

Cristina Branco might just be the best fado singer since the great Amalia Rodrigues, the woman who defined the genre. There's a subtlety to her voice that catches the emotions -- and fado, like blues or flamenco, is about feel -- and she never becomes histrionic, letting things stay in check, with the understatement much more eloquent. With this disc she refines and expands upon her two previous studio albums, even to the extent of the unaccompanied "Molinera" that closes the record, a song in a 13th century dialect. The musical relationship between Branco and husband Custodio Castelo, who arranges and plays the difficult Portuguese guitar (which gives fado its distinctive, mournful instrumental sound), continues to grow and deepen, while the other instruments -- guitar and double bass, build a framework for songs like the delicate "Musa." As with all fado, the lyrics are the crux of the matter, and Branco has chosen some beautiful poems (all well translated in the booklet), with "Tu Tens de Me Acontecer" a particular standout. But with a set this sublime, it's almost impossible to single out any one song above the others. There's a floating, breathless beauty about the whole thing that makes it timeless -- and over all too soon.