Part III: Rare and unknown voices - BIDU SAYAO

[NEMORINO1976]

I dont like the terms "rare" and "unknown". I thing they should say "other voices" or something like that.

[janejones11]

I love your channel! It is fantastic to see so many videos dedicated to great historical singers. I personally would not consider her unknown though. She was a great star at the met from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. In any case, her tone is at it's most lovely and youthful here. She has true artistic elegance .

[TheCTConservative]

Bidu Sayao is not known well enough by music lovers. With time, the voices of greats like Sayao sadly fade from the broader public consciousness. But she was a gem among singers with a delicacy and unmistakable timbre that can melt your heart. Her Juliet with Jussi Björling (1947) is one of my all time favorite live opera recordings. They were perfectly marched. Both had unique vocal qualities that could move an audience deeply.

[Comsaudades]

What a beautiful voice! The clarity and uniqueness of Bidu's voice are remarkable. It is not a reproduction of other highly educated voices. Eventhou this recording was done when she was very young, she kept the same traces of her voice,clarity and uniqueness, throughout her career. I can identify her voice because of these traces of her voice. Her interpretation of Casinha Pequenina is just unique. Thank you for posting this rare recording.

[toddydelahov]

Que voz maravilhosa...

[rosaloreto]

Quanta saudadesssss!!!Lindoooooo!!!

[MultiCathy1]

Amazing !!!! I can't believe I hear it on YouToube... Wow !!!!

So many thanks for sharing this ! You are cool ! :")

[hugothebear]

Sayao gives a direct link to the legendary era of Bel Canto having studied with Jean de Reske, not nearly as well known as I think she should be, almost everything she recorded is exquisitly judged, quite a lot on youtube and quite a few recordings available so go listen and enjoy.... perhaps her name will be spread to a much wider number of music lovers now we have the internet to help :-)

[Guilherme7530]

There was a better version here in Youtube, which was just piano and voice... but this is still, simply great.

As a Brazilian boy who wants to someday be a lyrical singer, Bidú Sayão is my biggest muse and inspiration. Thankyou very much for uploading this!

[oliveiragoo]

i'm brazilian and i've never heard 'bout her till i get piano lessons. then i learned to play that music and afterwards, i watched something about her on tv programs about music. well , she's not pop known byt the youg people here in brasil but she sang really well. i loved her music and voice.

[MarcusAurelianus]

@Ana2010Claudia - dear friend -- I found this pearl in you collection, and now... I find myself overwhelmed by a cascade of emotions... This is beyond beautifull... I had forgotten about it... How could I ever??? Thanks

[espiritolivre63]

@MarcusAurelianus - I DO AGREE with you dear friend only that i never knew this song .....so for me its quite new - thank you for sending this pearl like you said - hugs from LOndon

[Sinfoniette]

I really like how this channel is dedicated to those who are newcomers to the vocal repertoire... for a person like me who just recently realized who Stich-Randall was, this channel is a great place to start with.

[soundfond]

Hi Mike, thank you much for sharing these gems with us. As a brazilian-born naturalized american, I disagree with a couple of points in your comment. Bidu Sayao's name is well-known in both North and South Americas. Her girlish voice was highly focused and her secure technique made it well heard above Verdi orchestras, which we can verify in the live recordings of her duet with Warren. Best fit for brazilian folksong? Not quite. Her old school singing was thankfully a tad too operatic for that:)

[100Singers]

@soundfond Hi. I know, Bidu is well known among operalovers, but 100 Singers is also a project for an unexperienced audience - and for these music lovers she is still a jewel to discover. To put her into the Part III list means to make her more popular for more people. She deserves it! Mike

[oliveiragoo]

@soundfond het soudfond. i'm brasilina and she is not very known here in brazil.. almost everyoone never herd anything about her. i guess just the music students and the people that watch the tv programs about old music know about here

[GermanOperaSinger]

Definitely not rare and unknown - I share Ponselle's opinion, if she did indeed say that about Sayao. I can't remember on what recording I first heard her but I've always considered her 1951 Boheme with di Stefano and Valdengo to be the best live performance of that opera ever recorded. She had a full lyric voice but with that girlish timbre usually heard only in coloratura sopranos. A beautiful and unique sound, always one of my favorite singers.

[VinylToVideo]

LOL Sayao "rare and unknown?" Not at all. You've definitely miscatagorized this one.

[violetavalery]

@VinylToVideo Completely agree with Vinyl. Bid u Sayao unknown to whom? to uncultivated audiences maybe, but she is very very well-known for us opera lovers!

[reeferisme]

Thanks,  thats some lovely singing

[diarci]

I adore her, but surely you cannot call her "unknown." She did make records, which are readily avilable on EMI. And If she had never sung anything else in her life, her Juliette opposite Jussi Bjorling's Romeo in the 1947 Metropolitan perfrmance (available on numerous pirate CD's) would give her a permanent and honored place in the memory of every opera lover.

Don

[Homoclassicus]

[continuation of the translation] Can't you remember, unfaithful one, the vows that you made fervently?... Or that long, prolonged kiss that sealed our love?

[Homoclassicus]

For those interested: "Tu não te lembras da casinha pequenina / Onde o nosso amor nasceu? Ai! [2x]. Tinha um coqueiro do lado / que, coitado, de saudade já morreu [2x]. Tu não te lembras das juras, ó perjura / Que fizeste com fervor? Ai! [2x] Daquele beijo demorado, prolongado / que selou nosso amor?" [2x] (translation: Can't you remember that little house where our love was born? There was a coconut palm besides it, which, poor one!, has already died of longing. [continues]

[Homoclassicus]

"A Casinha Pequenina" is a simple and short song, but a real jewel in terms of melody and heartfelt sensitivity. It's a pity people don't get to know the many beautiful folksongs of Brazil and the songs of Brazilian composers. That said, Sayão is hardly unknown: she had a most successful career (even in Europe, in the 30's) and has many recordings released.

[LordMgls]

I'm growing more to more convinced that this is actually a Portuguese song... Brazilians never say "Tu não te lembras" (you don't remember of the little house); they say "Você não se lembra" (which has the same translation). Even Bidú herself sung it without Portuguese accent from Portugal rather than Portuguese from Brazil's.

[Homoclassicus]

@LordMgls @LordMgls This IS a Brazilian song. "Palmeiras" in Portugal? I don't think so (I'm kidding). But the fact is this is a very traditional folksong in Brazil, which is even mentioned in a 19th century Romantic novel I read some years ago. There are still Brazilians who say "Tu não te lembras" in some parts of the country; but above all, you need to remember the lyrics are in traditional, erudite Portuguese. "Você" is predominant in parts of Brazil. Dozens of millions use "Tu"..

[LordMgls]

@Homoclassicus Thank you for the information. As far as I had managed to know from many Brazilian students in Portugal, I had been told "tu não sei quê" is used mainly in the iliterate 'favelas'. But used as "tu não te lembra".

Mas não questiono uma explicação tão detalhada e com referências :-P Obrigado

[Homoclassicus]

@LordMgls I suppose the students you met were middle/higher class Carioca people, weren't they? I like languages, including my own, so I've read a little about it, and it's known in Rio de Janeiro there's a clear social separation between "você", used by middle class/high class, and "tu", used by the poors. But "tu" is the main pronoun in a huge part of Brazil: almost all the South and Northeast and parts of North. There "você" is used only for formal/non-intimate situations.

[LordMgls]

@Homoclassicus

That precious information will certainly help me to take some "preliminar impressions" through my life. Thanks!

best regards--B

[sdegrace]

Le roi de Thulé dans Faust avec elle est superbe.

[sdegrace]

Le roi de Thulé dans Faust avec elle est superbe.

[tenorvoicefan]

Wunderbares, einfühlsames singen mit einer weiblichen und zu Herzen gehenden Stimme.

Vielen Dank für diese Neuentdeckung für mich!

[90lysander]

Wonderful post! I've heard some of Sayao's operatic work, and enjoyed it, but I agree with you - she is especially wonderful in this. In addition to that beautiful voice, what wonderful emotion she expresses - thanks.

[Hjadlowker]

For me she has always been anything but "unknown", but then I'm a Latin American, so I grew up listening to her records. (And I love this song. There's even a version with Gigli) Thank you so much! I hope you keep on posting.

[Teonareine]

Wonderful voice. Today I was able to listen, thanks a lot.

[dantitustimshu]

A treasurable singer with an lovely voice, exquisite artistry and vibrant stage personality. Her Manon, Susanna, Violetta, Rosina, Melisande, Juliet, etc, at the Metropolitan Opera make up a string of memorable portrayals. Thanks very much, Mike, for posting. Same as meltzerboy and so many others, my sincerest wishes for the continuation of your wonderful work. 

[meltzerboy]

I would not say Bidu Sayao is unknown, at least not to North or South American audiences. She is, however, rare as is a precious jewel. She sings this piece exquisitely. Thanks so much for posting, Mike, and my sincerest hope that you will continue to do so!