Homecoming

All day long Rio's fashionable hairdressers entwined flowers, jewels and ostrich plumes into lacquered coiffures. The weather was warm--but ladies who like to show off their platinum fox coats showed up at the Teatro Municipal in them anyhow. The cheapest seats in the gallery were $4.80; and the house was sold out. Baldwina ("Bidu") de Oliveira Sayao (rhymes with bye now), the cause of it all, was not surprised. Said she: "When they love an artist, they really love."

For her first home-town performance in six years, Soprano Sayao chose Debussy's ethereal opera, Pelleas et Melisande, which she considers her best job at Manhattan's Metropolitan Opera House. (Said she: "I don't know how Brazilian audience will receive this thing. They just begin to understand Wagner and Debussy maybe.") Her suspicions were right.

Brazilians yell themselves hoarse over the spectacular quartet from Rigoletto, but they listened coolly while Sayao and French Baritone Martial Singher sang the climaxless Pelleas et Melisande. Luckily for Bidu, she could do no wrong in Rio.

Pert, red-haired little Bidu Sayao was born into one of Rio's wealthiest families 39 years ago. She made her debut at Manhattan's Metropolitan in 1937, became famed for her slight-voiced but lyrically graceful Manon, Mimi (in La Boheme) and Meeisande.

But for years Bidu gave Rio a wide berth. Reason: in her last appearance there in 1940 she was booed and hissed by a claque. The claque had been hired, cried she, by a jealous operatic impresario named Gabriella Besanzoni. Bidu swore she would return only when Besanzoni was out of power. Last week in true operatic fashion, Gabriella -- now retired --swooped backstage after the first night's performance. Gabriella, dressed in full-length ermine, gathered Sayao into her arms and kissed her on both cheeks.

*Cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, Dr. Koussevitzky.

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