Benjamim was one of the first artists to react to the news of Fausto Bordalo Dias’ death, passed away this Monday, victim of a prolonged illness.
The musician shared, on Instagram, a photo of himself next to Fausto, taken during the concerts celebrating the 40th anniversary of “Por Este Rio Acimaâ€, at Aula Magna, in 2022. When asked by BLITZ, this is precisely the Fausto album that he chooses as his favorite. “That’s what everyone is going to say, isn’t it?†.
“Maybe it’s the one he often didn’t want to play live. But I think it’s difficult… The album had the impact it had, he continues. “It’s perfect from start to finish, it’s rare for there to be an artist in Portugal who has such a perfect album, on top of that being such a long album. It’s his most unmissable album, in my opinion.
In his first album, “Auto Rádio†(2015), Benjamim included a version of ‘Rosie’, a theme that Fausto Bordalo Dias included in “Madrugada dos Trapeiros†(1977), and which was composed at the time in partnership with António Pedro Braga. In that show at the Aula Magna, Benjamim told Fausto. “He was very surprised, and more so because I knew António Pedro Braga,†he says. “He said he was one of his best friends, that he hadn’t seen him for many years. It was a brief but interesting meeting, which even resulted in Fausto signing an autograph for Benjamim.
For Benjamin, Faust’s death means a “giant” loss. “Above all symbolic,†he adds. “He wasn’t exactly active for some time but, logically, it’s very tough. We feel that we are starting to lose a generation.
Fausto was “one of the greatest representatives of a generation of music, of icons, of resistance, which we will miss so much, even more so after yesterday’s elections in France [que deram a vitória à extrema-direita]and with the tendency that we have for contagion to our country, in more recent times”, argues Benjamim. “In this sense, it is also a tragic loss. Musically, we lost one of our greatest creators of always. It’s like when we lost José Afonso”.
“Fausto is an unavoidable figure in Portuguese music. It will always be”, he concludes. “Of the song, of the music. He managed to combine traditional Portuguese music with sophistication…
