Fernando Tordo
Singer & Composer
Six decades of Portuguese song
Fernando Tordo is one of the most prolific and best-loved songwriters in the history of Portuguese music. Born in Lisbon in 1948, he has built a career of remarkable longevity, spanning more than five decades, as a singer, composer and writer, and is an essential figure of contemporary Portuguese song.
His name is inseparable from his partnership with the poet José Carlos Ary dos Santos: Tordo composed the music, Ary dos Santos wrote the words, and together they gave Portugal “Tourada”, “Cavalo à Solta”, “Estrela da Tarde” and “Novo Fado Alegre”.
Fernando Tordo
In 1973 he won the Festival RTP da Canção and represented Portugal at Eurovision, in Luxembourg, with “Tourada” (music by Tordo, lyrics by Ary dos Santos), which finished 10th. Read in Portugal as an allegory of the regime, it became a symbol of the years leading up to the Carnation Revolution.
He began singing in the 1960s with Os Deltons and Os Sheiks, and released his first solo album, “Tocata”, in 1972. In 1977 he won the Festival RTP da Canção again with “Portugal no Coração”, as part of the group Os Amigos. He has given songs to voices such as Carlos do Carmo, Simone de Oliveira, Mariza and Carminho.
Commander of the Order of Merit (2003) and of the Order of Liberty (2023), he keeps taking his work to the stage, revisiting it with new arrangements: in 2025 he presented the album recorded with the Portuguese Symphonic Band and, in 2026, he celebrates six decades of songs with a concert premiered on 10 February at the Teatro da Trindade in Lisbon.
Recordings
Albums and EPs available on Spotify.
2025 · Fernando Tordo com a Banda Sinfónica Portuguesa — Arr.: Lino Guerreiro, Valter Rolo
2022 · Os Fados Que Eu Fiz — With Cuca Roseta and Paulo de Carvalho
2019 · Duetos — Diz-me Com Quem Cantas
2016 · Outro Canto — Written and produced in Brazil
2005 · Canta a los Premios Nobel — Poems by Nobel laureates
2002 · E No Entanto Ela Move-se — Recorded in Barcelona
1997 · Peninsular — Recorded in Barcelona
1984 · Anticiclone — Orchestrations by François Rauber
1980 · Cantigas Cruzadas
1979 · Fazer Futuro
1977 · Estamos Vivos
1972 · Tocata — First solo album
1969 · Cantiga — EP · Festival da Canção 1969
Signature songs
Tordo / Ary dos Santos — «Tourada» (1973)
Tordo / Ary dos Santos — «Cavalo à Solta» (1971)
Tordo / Ary dos Santos — «Estrela da Tarde» (1976)
Tordo / Ary dos Santos — «Novo Fado Alegre» (1976)
Tordo (words and music) — «Adeus Tristeza»
On stage
▶ Watch video Tourada · Official video
▶ Watch video Estrela da Tarde · Coliseu dos Recreios
Photography: Rita Carmo
Stages and festivals
2026 · Ponta Delgada — Coliseu Micaelense · “60 Years of Songs”
2026 · Covilhã — Praça do Município · 24 April celebrations
2026 · Lisbon — Teatro da Trindade INATEL · premiere of “60 Years of Songs”
2025 · Porto — Coliseu Porto Ageas · with the Portuguese Symphonic Band
2019 · Lisbon — Teatro Nacional de São Carlos · with the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra
With orchestra and band
Portuguese Symphony Orchestra
Portuguese Symphonic Band
“For the first time in history, the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra joins a popular-music songwriter for a unique concert with Fernando Tordo.”
“Pela primeira vez na história, a Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa junta-se a um autor de música popular para um concerto único com Fernando Tordo.”
Bring Fernando Tordo’s songs to your stage.
Booking: Ars Luminae