"Lisboa Antiga" (;

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

for "Old

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

") is a

popular song Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training.Popular Music. (2015). ''Funk ...

that was originally written in 1937, with music by Raul Portela and

lyrics by José Galhardo and Amadeu do Vale. The song was recorded, among others, by

Hermínia Silva Herminia Silva Leite Guerreiro GCIH (23 October 1907 - 13 June 1993) was a Portuguese fado singer. Life Silva was born at Hospital de Sao Jose to Josefina Augusta. At the age of 10, she began singing while she worked as a seamstress. Her car ...

and

Amália Rodrigues Amália da Piedade Rebordão Rodrigues GCSE, GCIH (23 July 1920 – 6 October 1999), better known as Amália Rodrigues () or popularly as Amália, was a Portuguese '' fadista'' (fado singer) and actress. Known as the 'Rainha do Fado' ("Queen ...

. The version of song that ended being popular in the United States in the

1950s The 1950s (pronounced nineteen-fifties; commonly abbreviated as the "Fifties" or the " '50s") (among other variants) was a decade that began on January 1, 1950, and ended on December 31, 1959. Throughout the decade, the world continued its re ...

is called "Lisbon Antigua".

Nelson Riddle recording

*"Lisbon Antigua" was a hit in the United States when recorded by the

Nelson Riddle Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many world-famous vocalists at Capitol Records ...

orchestra in 1956. It was brought to Riddle's attention by

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

's manager who had heard a version played by an orchestra in Mexico. Riddle recorded his own arrangement with himself on the piano accompanied by a string section, brass, and a wordless male chorus. "Lisbon Antigua" topped the

Billboard magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

chart on February 25, 1956 and remained there for four weeks. The song became a

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...

. Riddle then used the song for the theme music when he wrote the score for the 1956 film ''

.'' ''Billboard'' ranked it as the No. 3 song for 1956.

Other recorded versions

*In 1956, Coral Records released "Lisbon Antigua" (US catalog# 9-61553, elsewhere as 'In Old Lisbon') with Alan Dale singing Harry Dupree's English lyrics. *In 1956, another popular version was recorded by

Frank Chacksfield Francis Charles Chacksfield (9 May 1914 – 9 June 1995) was an English pianist, organist, composer, arranger, and conductor of popular light orchestral easy listening music, who had great success in Britain and internationally in the 1950s and e ...

's orchestra under the title "In Old Lisbon", in which the male chorus sang lyrics written in English by Harry Dupree. It was released by the United Kingdom

Decca label Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...

as catalog number F 10689,and reached #15 on the UK charts. *In October 1956, the song made the French charts with

Gloria Lasso Rosa Vicenta Montserrat Coscolín Figueras (28 October 1922 – 4 December 2005) known professionally as Gloria Lasso was a Spanish-born canción melódica singer, long based in France. In the 1950s, she was one of the major competitors to Dali ...

's "Lisboa Antigua" and

Darío Moreno David Arugete (3 April 1921 – 1 December 1968), commonly known under his stage name Darío Moreno, was a Turkish-Jewish polyglot singer, an accomplished composer, lyricist, and guitarist. He attained fame and made a remarkable career centred ...

´s "Adieu Lisbonne".

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lisbon Antigua 1956 singles Number-one singles in the United States Billboard Top 100 number-one singles 1937 songs Songs about Portugal