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22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
the exquisite soul of morna, 7 Mar 2005
Cesaria Evora is one of the great stars of world music, and this CD is on many lists as an "essential recording" in this genre. Born in 1941 in Sao Vicente (Cape Verde Islands), Cesaria has known the toughest of times in her youth, and was a mature woman before reaching the recognition she so richly deserved. "Mis Perfumado" was recorded in 1992, and is one of her very finest albums; with her soft, warm honey voice, and a heart well acquainted with the sorrow of lost love, she is undoubtedly the quintessential interpreter of "morna", a style of song reminiscent of the Portuguese fado combined with the rhythms of West Africa. The songs on this CD are lilting, melodic gems, most with a nice slow swing to them, with a few that are more up-tempo, like tracks # 3, 10, and the fabulous "Angola" (# 6), which is my favorite number on the CD. Four of the tracks (# 2, 7, 9, 11) were written by Cesaria's prolific uncle Francisco (better known as B. Leza), as well as three by one of Francisco's followers, Manuel de Novas (# 3, 4, 12). The musicianship is marvelous throughout this recording, and a lot of the world-wide success of this CD is owed to the masterful arrangements and piano artistry of Paulino Viera, whose solos add much to the beauty of the music, as does the haunting violin playing by Malaquias Costa featured in the final "Tortura". A good place to start your Cesaria Evora collection, the sound is quite good and total playing time is 59'29.
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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love, passion, joy and sadness in its best., 2 July 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Miss Perfumado (Audio CD)
Cesaria Evora - everything that comes out of her mouth is real gold. Every song, every verse, every word she sings is full of emotions, passion, joy and sadness in the same time. Here, in "Miss Perfumado", as well: she is the Queen. She possesses and controls so perfect every subtlety from which music is made, the very essence of it. Evora is the Master in story telling, she just starts singing, and within light-seconds she has entered the very bottom of your heart. And you wish that she never stops singing. Pure beauty in its most perfect form.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect, 22 Dec 2011
I cannot find any fault with this music. Every track is a pleasure to listen to, whether it is slow or fast - and this is very rare: usually there are always a few tracks on any CD which don't appeal. The singing is beautiful, evocative, relaxing, and the instrumental backing is excellent - restrained, never dominating, and in perfect harmony with the singer. It could be played in any situation - a romantic candle-lit meal, a party or as general background music - and no-one could possibly object. Like a lot of the other music I listen to on BBC Radio 3's 'Late Junction' - you would never hear it on other more popular radio stations; in this particular case, Cesaria Evora's singing deserves a wider audience. A few days before I received this CD, I heard of the death of Cesaria Evora. This sad news is tempered by the knowledge that the haunting beauty of her voice will live on to give pleasure to all who hear it and - like other great singers - who possess this gift of God, bring beauty and light into our lives.
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