Bidú Sayão (Le Nozze di Figaro), Soprano
 b. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Met Debut: title role (Manon) February 13, 1937 Last Met performance: title role (Manon) April 23, 1952 46 Met performances of Susanna between 2/20/1940 & 2/11/1950 including 6 broadcasts photo credit: Metropolitan Opera Photo Bidu Sayão “But it was the consummate artistry of Bidu Sayão that gave glamour to ‘The Marriage of Figaro.’ She proved once again that as a singing actress she has no peer. And as a portrayer of ingénue and soubrette roles, no one has yet come along who could effectively challenge her supremacy. “For Bidu Sayão is petite, pretty and cute in the best sense of that word. She is first of all an actress, so much so that she uses her voice for characterization no less surely than for musical expression. She can make it sound almost childish and coy, or wondrously warm and mature as the occasion demands. And her sense of timing gives an infallible rhythmic point to song and action. Her Susanna enchanted last night’s audience.”—San Francisco News “After more than fifty years of constant opera going I still feel that she was the best Susanna. My memory of her at the Metropolitan Opera in the last act of Le Nozze di Figaro—she sang ‘Deh vieni, non tardar’ while cutting roses in the garden — will never be obliterated. It was total, intoxicating enchantment.”—Lanfranco Rasponsi, The Last Prima Donnas “Mme. Sayão was a Susanna of appealing appearance, with tones often highly ingratiating…vivacious and attractive.”—New York Herald Tribune “Miss Sayão gave the Susanna character individuality and spirit. The Countess’s maid and the fiancée of Figaro was no mere peg for an air and a duet and an element of the ensemble.”--New York Times |
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