Bidu Sayão
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Balduína "Bidú" de Oliveira Sayão was a Brazilian operatic soprano. One of Brazil's celebrated musicians, Sayão was a leading artist of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City from 1937 to 1952.
Bidu Sayão as Manon (Massenet), in the season of 1940 of the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires
Manon
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Manon is an opéra comique in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel L'histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the
Bidu Sayão
…under the baton of Arturo Toscanini, who became her greatest supporter and lifelong friend. She sang her first performance at the Metropolitan Opera as Manon on 13 February 1937, replacing the Spanish soprano Lucrezia Bori. The critics, including Olin Downes of The New York Times, raved about her performance…
Geraldine Farrar in the title role
"Gathering around a score" by Charles Baude (1853–1935) shows Massenet rehearsing Manon with Sibyl Sanderson in Pierre Loti's drawing room. It was used as the cover of Le Théâtre in July 1889.
Dmitri Smirnov as Le Chevalier des Grieux (1909, by Aleksandr Golovin)
American soprano Sibyl Sanderson as Manon in 1888