Roy S.
Yelp
Went to the fado museum in Alfama, Lisbon, and it's kind of a mixed bag. Well, first of all, they do have reduced admission rates (three euros) for children and over-65s, unlike what the previous Portuguese-language reviewer said (maybe its a new thing...) When you go in you get (included in the admissions price), a sound device where you punch in numbers (corresponding to numbers on the wall) and listen to lectures on the aspect of fado shown in the particular exhibit. Some of the lectures go on and on, and there's not always comfortable places to stop and listen. But if one takes the time one can get a good overall picture of the genre. The worst exhibit is the long photo of many fadisto/as, some of whom are numbered. If you enter the number in your device you can hear a song by that singer. But the whole display is in a relatively narrow aisle overlooking the lower floors. You can lean on the railing and hope it doesn't give way if many people lean on it. None of these people are named except in a diagram farther along and across the aisle. In the diagram the people are also numbered, but not with the same numbers as in the photo. So you'll need to back and forth to identify anyone, by comparing location and surroundings from the big photo.
In the next room are three seats with headphones and screens. One of the three headsets was broken when I was there. On the screens one can read a biography of each of many fado singers. By pressing another button on the touchscreen one can hear a song. But you can't read and listen at the same time. Some of the singers have a set of photoes attached to their records, but once again, the photos can only be observed separately - one can't listen to music (or read) while the photos are being displayed. There are many singers on the list - listening to a number of them gave me an idea of whom to check out further. To listen to all though, would take half a day. I noticed that mostly people just check out the device and go on - it didn't look like many people listened to much of the lectures either.
Following this section was an exhibit of Portuguese guittaras and information about the development of the instrument and some of the luthiers who built them. I'd like to know more about this instrument, and have a chance to try one out. There are a few for sale in the museum's shop, but none of them were anything near being in tune. They also had a couple very small stringed instruments for sale - the predecessor of the ukulele, I'd guess. And the shop has lots and lots of fado CDs for sale, and some sheet music.
The museum is closed on Mondays and on a few holidays. In spite of the less-than-optimal design of the museum, I'd say it's worth it to learn more about the genre of fado And to listen to the various singers so you can find one you particularly like before making a purchase.