Bidu Sayao: Opera Arias and Brazilian Folksongs

Bidº Say£o's silvery, impeccably tuned voice was small in size, but rich in nuance, shading, and emotion. Her recording of the Villa-Lobos Bachiana Brasileira No. 5 is justly famous, unmatched for lightness and sensuality. Few have dashed off the Jewel Song from Faust with similar insouciance or imbued the last phrases of Manon's "Adieu , notre petite table" as touchingly as Say£o does here. Her French song interpretations glow with charm and style, and a previously unreleased snippet from Ravel's L'enfant et les sotil¨ges makes one regret she never recorded the entire role, Sony's transfers are more lifelike and three dimensional than previous issues. A delectable disc. --Jed Distler