Sara Braga Simões (born 1975 in Braga) is a Portuguese operatic

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

who has sung in the world premieres of seven 21st century

operas Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...

Carlos Azevedo Carlos Azevedo (29 March 1949 – 26 October 2012) was a Portuguese composer and pianist. Biography Having studied composition with Jorge Peixinho in Lisbon, he was a 20th-century music composer and a jazz pianist. As a teacher and director of ...

's ''Mumadona'', Nuno Côrte-Real's ''Banksters'', Pedro Amaral's ''O Sonho'', Jose Eduardo Rocha's ''Os fugitivos'', Sofia Sousa Rocha's ''Inês Morre''. Luís Soldado's ''Fado Olissiponense'' and Luís Tinoco's ''Evil Machines''.

Career

After receiving her diploma in singing from the Escola Superior de Música in

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

, Sara Braga Simões trained for four years with the Estúdio de Ópera da Casa da Música in Porto. She made her operatic debut as Volpino in Haydn's ''

Lo speziale ''Lo speziale'' (''The Apothecary''), Hob. 28/3, is a three-act opera buffa by Joseph Haydn, with a libretto by Carlo Goldoni. A love triangle between the poor apprentice Mengone, the rich and assured dandy Volpino, and the local apothecary's ...

'' with the Orquestra de Câmara Musicare, conducted by Bertrand Broder. In March 2004 she sang the leading role of Marta in the world premiere of José Eduardo Rocha's opera ''Os fugitivos'' (

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

Teatro da Trindade The ''Teatro da Trindade'' is a theatre in the Chiado neighbourhood of Lisbon, Portugal, built in the 19th century. It is one of the oldest theatres in Lisbon still in operation. Construction and opening In 1866, Francisco Pereira Palha de Fari ...

), which was later broadcast on Portuguese television. The following year, she won second prize in the 2005 ''Concurso Nacional de Canto

Luísa Todi Luísa Rosa de Aguiar Todi (9 January 1753–1 October 1833) was a popular and successful Portuguese mezzo-soprano opera singer. Early life Luísa Todi was born Luísa Rosa de Aguiar on 9 January 1753 in Setúbal, Portugal. In 1765, her family m ...

'' singing competition. Simões made her debut at the

Teatro Nacional de São Carlos The ''Teatro Nacional de São Carlos'' () (''National Theatre of Saint Charles'') is an opera house in Lisbon, Portugal. It was opened on June 30, 1793 by Queen Maria I as a replacement for the Tejo Opera House, which was destroyed in the 1755 Li ...

as Lady-in-waiting in

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

's ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'' in June 2007 and has since returned to the opera house as Pamina in a special young people's version of Mozart's ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a ''Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that inclu ...

'' and as a soloist in the concert inaugurating the theatre's 2007/2008 season. The summer of 2007 also saw Simões singing in the premiere as a "work-in-progress" of Pedro Amaral's opera ''O sonho'' at the Culturgest arts centre in Porto. On 12 January 2008, Simões sang in the world premiere of ''Evil Machines'', an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

composed by Luís Tinoco to a

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

by Terry Jones (Lisbon, São Luiz Municipal Theatre). In 2010, she made the world debut of Pedro Amaral's opera 'O Sonho' in london, with London Sinfonietta. In the same year, she made her debut as Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni. In 2011 she played the female leading role in Nuno Côrte-Real's opera 'Banskters' in Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, the Lisbon Opera House.

Recordings

In October 2008 Sara Braga Simões and pianist Luís Pipa recorded a CD of the complete works for voice and piano by 20th-century Portuguese composer, Eurico Thomaz de Lima, to be released later in the year. Simões also appears in ''Ópera aberta'', a documentary film by Leonor Areal on the 2004 world premiere of ''Os fugitivos''.Catalogue
of the City of Lisbon Music Library (Fonoteca Municipal de Lisboa). Accessed 5 November 2008.

Operatic roles

* Pamina (''Die Zauberflöte'', Mozart) - Lisbon, Teatro Nacional de São Carlos * Susanna (''Le mozze di Figaro'', Mozart) * Zerlina (''Don Giovanni'', Mozart) - Faro, Teatro Municipal de Faro * Gretel (''Hänsel und Gretel'', Humperdink) * Despina (''Così fan tutte'', Mozart) * The Governess (''The Turn of the Screw'', Britten) * Zerlina, (''Don Giovanni'', Mozart) * La Princesse (''L'enfant e les sortilèges'', Ravel) * Rowan (''The Little Sweep'', Britten) * Lauretta (''La donna di génio volubile'', Marcos Portugal) * Clarice (''Il mondo della luna'', Pedro António Avondano) * Spinalba ('' La Spinalba'', F. António de Almeida) * Elle (''La Voix Humaine]'', F. Poulenc * Principessa (''La bella dormente nel bosco'', O. Respighi) * Madame Robin (''Le fifre Enchantée'', Offenbach) * Volpino (''Lo speziale'', Haydn) - Orquestra de Câmara Musicare * Fox (''Příhody Lišky Bystroušky or The Cunning Little Vixen'',Janáček) * Jenny (''Three sisters who are not sisters'', Ned Rorem) * Mathurine (''L'ivrogne corrigé'', Gluck) * Chun Lee (''Mumadona'', Carlos Azevedo) * Tumble Drier/Nancy's Mom (''Evil Machines'', Luís Tinoco) * Marta (''Os fugitivos'', José Eduardo Rocha) * Dama (''Macbeth'', Verdi) * Aia/Salome (''O Sonho'', Pedro Amaral) * Mimi Kitsch (''Banksters'', Nuno Côrte-Real) * Inês (''Inês Morre'', Sofia Sousa Rocha) * Criada (''Fado Olissiponense'', Luís Soldado)

Concert performances

* ''Messiah'', Händel * ''Gloria'',

Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among the best-kno ...

* ''Des Knabem Wunderhorn'',

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

* '' Ein Deutsches Requiem'',

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

* ''Nuits d'étè'',

Hector Berlioz In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

* ''E vo'',

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Sequenza''), and for his pioneering work ...

* ''

Trois poèmes de Mallarmé ''Trois poèmes de Mallarmé'' is a sequence of three art songs by Maurice Ravel, based on poems by Stéphane Mallarmé for soprano, two flutes, two clarinets, piano, and string quartet. Composed in 1913, it was premiered on 14 January 1914, perf ...

'', Maurice Ravel * ''Gloria'', Händel *''Britten'',

Les illuminations ''Illuminations'' is an incomplete suite of prose poems by the French poet Arthur Rimbaud, first published partially in ', a Paris literary review, in May–June 1886. The texts were reprinted in book form in October 1886 by Les publications de L ...

* ''

Te Deum The "Te Deum" (, ; from its incipit, , ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to AD 387 authorship, but with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin Chur ...

'',

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...

* ''Shîr'', João Pedro Oliveira * '' Magnificat'',

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist and impresario of Baroque music. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lifetime was widespread a ...

* ''

Christmas Oratorio The ''Christmas Oratorio'' (German: ''Weihnachtsoratorium''), , is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It is in six parts, each part a cantata intended for performance on one of t ...

'', Saint-Saëns * ''

Stabat Mater The Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Christian hymn to Mary, which portrays her suffering as Jesus Christ's mother during his crucifixion. Its author may be either the Franciscan friar Jacopone da Todi or Pope Innocent III.Sabatier, Paul ''Life o ...

'',

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi Giovanni Battista Draghi (; 4 January 1710 – 16 or 17 March 1736), often referred to as Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (), was an Italian Baroque composer, violinist, and organist. His best-known works include his Stabat Mater and the opera ''L ...

* ''

Lacrymosa "Lacrymosa" is a song recorded by American rock band Evanescence for their second studio album, ''The Open Door'' (2006). An alternative version appears on the band's fourth studio album '' Synthesis'' (2017). The song was composed by singer an ...

'', Yanov-Yanovsky * ''Lied der Waldtaube'',

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

* ''Madrigals (Book I)'',

George Crumb George Henry Crumb Jr. (24 October 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an American composer of avant-garde contemporary classical music. Early in his life he rejected the widespread modernist usage of serialism, developing a highly personal musical ...

* ''D’une saison… l’autre'', A. Lemeland (World First) * ''Dixit Dominus'', Vivaldi * ''

Gloria Gloria may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Christian liturgy and music * Gloria in excelsis Deo, the Greater Doxology, a hymn of praise * Gloria Patri, the Lesser Doxology, a short hymn of praise ** Gloria (Handel) ** Gloria (Jenkins) ...

'', Vivaldi * '' Credo'', D. Pedro IV * ''The Devil’s Suite'', Peter Maxwell Davies * ''

'', Giovanni Battista Pergolesi * ''Haddock’s Eyes'',

David Del Tredici David Walter Del Tredici (born March 16, 1937) is an American composer. He has won a Pulitzer Prize for Music and is a former Guggenheim and Woodrow Wilson fellow. Del Tredici is considered a pioneer of the Neo-Romantic movement. He has also bee ...

References

External links

Sara Braga Simões' official website
(in English).
Video of the dress rehearsal of ''Evil Machines''
''

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Simoes, Sara Braga 1975 births Living people Portuguese operatic sopranos 21st-century Portuguese women opera singers People from Braga