Vitorino Salomé Vieira (born 11 July 1942), commonly known simply asVitorino, is a Portuguese singer-songwriter.[1] His music combines thetraditional music of his native region ofAlentejo and urban popular song.
Vitorino was born in 1942 inRedondo, to a family of musicians. His father was aFado de Coimbra singer andmandolin player, as did his grandfather. Vitorino's uncle meanwhile was active in theLisbon Fado scene. His younger brother,Janita Salomé, is also a musician.
At the age of 11 Vitorino started learning the piano at a monastery in his home town, although he quickly abandoned it and did not go back to formal musical training afterwards. Instead, he sang in local choirs and associations and at private gatherings.[2]
In 1968 he went to Lisbon in pursuit of his artistic studies, where he soon became acquainted with, and became part of, a group of friends encompassingJosé Afonso,Adriano Correia de Oliveira,Fausto andJosé Mário Branco. Together with Branco, he left Lisbon in 1969 for Paris, where he, like his friend, began his career as a song writer and protest singer. A notable concert was his appearance at theThéâtre de la Mutualité, where Vitorino joined José Afonso, José Mário Branco,Luís Cília, Sérgio Godinho and Tino Flores in what became one of the most prolific concerts of Portuguese dissidents against theEstado Novo dictatorship.[3]
In 1973 Vitorino returned to Portugal, where he continued his career as a singer. He also joined José Afonso as a guitarist at theI. Encontro da Canção Portuguesa on March 29, 1974 at theColiseu dos Recreios. His first official release, an7"-EP namedMorra Quem não Tem Amores, was published after theCarnation Revolution in April 1974.[2][3]
His first album,Semear Salsa Ao Reguinho, was released in 1975. Produced by Fausto and featuring José Afonso and Sérgio Godinho, this album is notable for Vitorino's arrangements of traditional folk songs, likeMenina estás à janela, which later became a staple of his live concerts, and for songsCante Alentejano, a traditional style of music from his home region. Until the 1980s Vitorino often relied on rearranging traditional tunes with help fromPedro Caldeira Cabral; after that the amount of own compositions in his repertoire grew, influenced by different genres, from jazz to classical music andworld music.[2][4]
Vitorino (with sun glasses) andHomens da Luta atOccupy protest in Lisbon in 2011.
For his albumEu Que Me Comovo Por Tudo E Por Nada he received 1993 theJosé Afonso award, and during the same year he released his Best of album namedAs Mais Bonitas.[2]
^abcdSalwa Castelo-Branco:Enciclopédia da Música em Portugal no Século XX, P–Z., 1. Edition, Temas e Debates, Lisbon 2010 (ISBN 978-989-644-114-2), S. 1345f
^abPersonenlexikonQuém É Quém - Portugueses Célebres. 1. Edition, Temas & Debates, Lisbon 2009 (ISBN 978-989-644-047-3), S. 536
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