PORTRAIT

Titina is the other grande dame of Cape Verdean music, alongside the recently deceased Cesaria Evora. Not too long ago, this musical jewel celebrated the 50th anniversary of her stage career with a brilliant concert that featured numerous excellent guest-musicians from her homeland. This CD brings together the best pieces from her CDs of the past two decades and her early 1960s recordings. Some of the old recordings had been considered lost, but – with 45 rpm EPs as our source – we were able to restore them. The intimate charm of those old recordings, some with larger orchestras and choirs, is a fantastic complement to the more recent releases on which her warm, fully matured voice gives expression to the joie de vivre of the archipelago in a touchingly poignant way.(network)