Bidu Sayão

Origin

Itaguaí, RJ

Also known as

Balduína de Oliveira Sayão, Bidu Saiao

Years Active

1920–1958

Genres

classical, opera, vocal music

Instruments

voice

Biography

Balduína de Oliveira Sayão, known professionally as Bidu Sayão, was a Brazilian soprano who achieved international fame in the mid-20th century. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Sayão displayed prodigious vocal talent from a young age, overcoming her family's initial reservations about a career in music. She studied with prominent teachers such as Elena Theodorini and Jean de Reszke, honing a voice renowned for its ethereal quality, delicate phrasing, and silvery tone. Sayão made her operatic debut in Brazil in 1920 and quickly gained recognition, leading to performances in Europe and eventually her U.S. debut in 1935.

Sayão's career reached its zenith during her tenure at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, where she was a leading artist from 1937 to 1952. She captivated audiences with her interpretations of roles in operas like "Manon," "La Traviata," "La Bohème," and "The Marriage of Figaro." Her collaborations extended beyond opera, notably with composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, whom she encouraged to adapt his "Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5" for wordless soprano, a piece that became one of his most popular and her most famous recording. Her performances were celebrated for their vocal purity and refined stage presence, earning her the moniker "the glamour girl of the Americas."

After retiring from opera in the mid-1950s, Sayão continued to perform occasionally and eventually settled in Maine with her husband, baritone Giuseppe Danise. Despite her international success and long career in opera houses worldwide, she remained deeply connected to her Brazilian roots, performing Brazilian folk songs and championing the country's musical heritage. Bidu Sayão's legacy endures through her recordings and her significant contribution to the classical music repertoire, solidifying her place as one of Brazil's most celebrated musical figures.

Discography

• Le Nozze di Figaro: Pinza, Rethberg, Sayao, Novotna live 1940 (Live) (1940)
• Puccini, Bidú Sayão, Richard Tucker, Salvatore Baccaloni, Mimi Benzell, Francesco Valentino, George Cehanovsky, Nicola Moscona, Lodovico Oliviero, Lawrence Davidson, Giuseppe Antonicelli Conducting The Chorus And Orchestra Of The Metropolitan Opera Association – La Bohême (1948)
• Bidú Sayão, Ernani Braga – ●My Encores ●Folk Songs Of Brazil (1949)
• Villa-Lobos / Verdi - Bidú Sayão With Orchestra Conducted By Heitor Villa-Lobos / Erich Leinsdorf – Bachianas Brasilerias No. 5 / La Traviata - Ah! Fors' È Lui And Sempre Libera (1951)
• Bidú Sayão, Heitor Villa-Lobos – Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 (The Original Recording) / Brazilian Folk Songs / Five Puccini Arias (1958)
• Heitor Villa-Lobos Conducting The Symphony Of The Air, Bidu Sayao – Forest Of The Amazon (1959)
• Gaetano Donizetti With Salvatore Baccaloni, Bidu Sayao, Nino Martini, Frank Valentino, Alessio de Paolis, Chorus And Orchestra Of The Metropolitan Opera Association, Gennaro Papi – Don Pasquale (1960)
• Bachianas Brasileiras No.5 (1970)
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Ezio Pinza, Rose Bampton, Jarmila Novotná, Alexander Kipnis, Charles Kullman, Bidú Sayão, Norman Cordon, Metropolitan Opera And Chorus, Bruno Walter – Don Giovanni (1972)
• Giacomo Puccini - Sayão, Bjoerling, Benzell, Moscona, Antonicelli – La Bohème (1948) (1979)
• Gioacchino Rossini, Bidú Sayão, Nino Martini, Ezio Pinza, Salvatore Baccaloni, John Brownlee, Leger – Il Barbiere di Siviglia (1981)
• Charles Gounod - J. Björling, Sayão, Moscona, E. Cooper – Romeo Et Juliette (1983)
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Pinza, Brownlee, Sayao, Steber, Novotna, Baccaloni, Bruno Walter – Le Nozze Di Figaro (1989)
• Mozart - Ezio Pinza, Rose Bampton, Jarmila Novotná, Alexander Kipnis, Charles Kullman, Bidú Sayão, Norman Cordon, Metropolitan Opera And Chorus, Bruno Walter – Don Giovanni (1989)
• Massenet - Bidú Sayão, Charles Kullman, John Brownlee, Sir Thomas Beecham – Manon (1994)
• Puccini, Bidú Sayão, Armand Tokatyan, Ezio Pinza, Giuseppe de Luca, Annamary Dickey, Louis D'Angelo, George Cehanovsky, Carlo Coscia, Lodovico Oliviero, Gennaro Papi – La Bohème (1995)
• Claude Debussy, Bidú Sayão, Martial Singher, Lawrence Tibbett, Alexander Kipnis, Margaret Harshaw, Lorenzo Alvary, Emil Cooper – Pelleas Et Melisande (1996)
• Inspiration - Brazil / Heitor Villa-Lobos: Forest Of The Amazon (1996)
• Rarities (1998)
• Donizetti : Don Pasquale (1998)
• Debussy: Pelleas Et Melisande (Singher, Sayao, Kipnis) (1945) (1998)
• Verdi: Rigoletto (2000)
• Jules Massenet, Bidu Sayão, Sydney Rayner, Richard Bonelli, Metropolitan Opera And Chorus, Maurice Abravanel – Manon (2000)
• Le Nozze Di Figaro (2000)
• Manon (2000)
• Massenet: Manon (2000)
• Puccini: La Boheme (2000)
• Donizetti - Bidú Sayão, Ferruccio Tagliavini, Giuseppe Valdengo, Salvatore Baccaloni, Paula Lenchner, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra And Chorus, Giuseppe Antonicelli – L’Elisir D’Amore (2001)
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ezio Pinza, Jarmila Novotna, Rose Bampton, Bidu Sayao, Orchestre Du Metropolitan Opera de New York, Choeurs Du Metropolitan Opera de New York Direction: Bruno Walter – Don Juan (2001)
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Paul Breisach, Ezio Pinza, Bidú Sayão, Jarmila Novotná, Eleanor Steber, Salvatore Baccaloni – Le Nozze Di Figaro (2002)
• Mozart - Ezio Pinza, Charles Kullman, Eleanor Steber, Salvatore Baccaloni, Bidú Sayão, Metropolitan Opera, George Szell – Don Giovanni (2003)
• Puccini - Sayao, Di Stefano, Valdengo, Cesare Siepi, The Metropolitan Opera House Orchestra And Chorus, Fausto Cleva – La Bohème (2003)
• Lebendige Vergangenheit (2006)
• Hommage a Bidu Sayao: The Unrivaled Lyric Soprano in Never-Before-Published Live Radio Performances, Vol. 1 (2009)
• Hommage a Bidu Sayao: The Unrivaled Lyric-Soprano in Rare Live Radio Performances, Vol. 2 (2009)
• Hommage a Bidu Sayao: The Unrivaled Lyric-Soprano in Never-Before-Published and Rare Live Performances, Vol. 3 (2010)
• Hommage a Bidu Sayao, Vol. 4: The Unrivaled Lyric Soprano in Rare Live Performances and Long Out-of-Print Studio Recordings (2010)
• Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro (Live Recordings 1949) (2014)
• Gounod: Roméo et Juliette, CG 9 (Live) (2015)
• Don Giovanni live 04.03.1943 conducted by Paul Breisach (2022)
• O Rouxinol Brasileiro
• Gioacchino Rossini - John Brownlee, Bidú Sayão, Ezio Pinza, Salvatore Baccaloni, Nino Martini, Irra Petina, Frank St. Leger – Il Barbiere Di Siviglia: 10 April 1943
• Bidú Sayão - In Concert
• Bidú Sayão II - In Song
• Bidú Sayão
• Gioacchino Rossini, Bidú Sayão, Nino Martini, Salvatore Baccaloni, John Brownlee, Ezio Pinza, Frank St. Leger – Il Barbiere di Siviglia
• Giuseppe Verdi, Leonard Warren, Jussi Björling, Bidú Sayão, Cesare Sodero, Norman Cordon, Martha Lipton – Metropolitan Opera Of New York, Verdi: Rigoletto
• Giacomo Puccini, Giuseppe Antonicelli, Jussi Björling, Bidú Sayão, Francesco Valentino, George Cehanovsky, Mimi Benzell, Nicola Moscona, Salvatore Baccaloni, Anthony Marlowe – Boheme