Bidu Sayão
Bidu Sayão (
May 11,
1902 -
March 13,
1999) was
Brazil's most famous
opera singer and one of the greatest stars of the
Metropolitan Opera for fifteen years (
1937-
1952).
She was born
Balduína de Oliveira Sayão to a cultured family in
Botafogo,
Rio de Janeiro. Her father died when she was five years old and her mother struggled to support her daughter's costly pursuit of a singing career. At the age of only eighteen, the gifted Bidu Sayão made her major opera debut in Rio de Janeiro. Her acclaimed performance led to an opportunity to study in
Europe, first in
Romania then in
Nice,
France with the renowned
Polish tenor and tutor,
Jean de Reszke. During the mid 1920s and early 1930s, she performed in
Rome,
Buenos Aires,
Paris, France and in her native Brazil. While at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome, she met impresario
Walter Mocchi (1870-1955). After his wife, soprano
Emma Carelli, died in 1928, the two became romantically involved and were married. However, it did not last and in 1935 Sayão married a second time to the Italian baritone,
Giuseppe Danise (1883-1963).
In 1930, she debuted at the
Teatro alla Scala in
Milan, and in the next year she sang a successful Juliette, in
Gounod's
Roméo et Juliette, at the
Paris Opera. In the same year, she gained a great success with her debut at the Opéra Comique as
Lakmé. Since then, she became one of the leading lyric coloratura sopranos in Europe, especially in Italy and France. Her repertoire included
Lucia di Lammermoor, Amina in
La Sonnambula, Elvira in
I Puritani, Zerbinetta in
Ariadne auf Naxos and Cecilia in
Il Guarany, among other roles.
In 1936 Bidu Sayão made her debut in the
United States at
Carnegie Hall in
New York City, singing a work by
Debussy. Her performance was under the baton of
Arturo Toscanini, who would become her greatest supporter and lifelong friend. In early 1937, she sang her first performance at the
Metropolitan Opera as
Manon, replacing the
Spanish soprano
Lucrezia Bori. The critics, including the
New York Times, raved about her performance and within a few weeks she was given the lead role in
La Traviata, followed soon thereafter by her first role in
La Bohème. She contributed a lot to the
Mozart revival at the
Metropolitan Opera and was the leading
Zerlina in
Don Giovanni and Susanna in
Le Nozze di Figaro of her generation.
At a time when most would have expected her to be welcomed home in Brazil as a hero, she had a bad experience on stage that left her forever bitter. However, despite this, after her February 1938 performance at the
White House, she declined President
President Franklin Roosevelt's suggestion she obtain American citizenship. As the favorite singer of Brazilian composer
Heitor Villa Lobos, she had an artistic partnership with him that lasted many years and made a number of recordings of his compositions, including a famous recording of the
Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5.
Bidu Sayão and her husband Giuseppe Danise purchased an oceanfront property in
Lincolnville, Maine. After fifteen years with the Metropolitan Opera, she gave her last performance in
1952, choosing early retirement while still at the top of her form. For the next two years she was a guest performer throughout the U.S., but in
1957 retired fully from performing in public and two years later made her final recording.
After her husband died in
1963, Bidu Sayão lived a quiet life at her home in
Maine. She returned to visit Brazil a last time in 1995, for a tribute to her during the
Carnival in
Rio de Janeiro, and died a few years later at the Penobscot Bay Medical Center in
Rockport, Maine. Her ashes were scattered across the Bay in front of her home.
Although Brazilians were always strong patrons of the opera, at the time Bidu Sayão was struggling to build her career with only limited financial means there was little in the way of government assistance for aspiring singers and she spoke about that lack of support throughout her life. Following her last visit to her homeland, the government prepared plans to honor her memory and in 2000, established the
Bidu Sayão International Vocal Competition to promote Brazilian operatic talent through a world-class competition.
Bidu Sayão's portrait hangs in the lobby at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.
