Vera Janacópulos (20 December 1886 or 1892—5 December 1955) was a Brazilian

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 ...

singer, popular in the first half of the 20th century.

Life and career

Vera Janacópulos was born in

Petrópolis Petrópolis (; ), also known as The Imperial City, is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the Southeast Region, Brazil, Southeast Region of Brazil. It is located in the state of Rio de Janeiro (state), Rio de Janeiro, northeast of the ci ...

, in a family of Greek descent. She was niece of the politician Pandiá Calógeras. After the death of her mother, Vera was taken to Paris with her sister

Adriana Adriana, also spelled Adrianna, is a Latin name and feminine form of Adrian. It originates from present day Italy. Translations *Arabic: أدريان * Belorussian: Адрыяна (Adryjana) *Bulgarian: Адриана (Adriana) *Chinese Simplifi ...

, who became a sculptor. In Paris, Janacópulos studied violin with Romanian composer

George Enescu George Enescu (; – 4 May 1955), known in France as Georges Enesco, was a Romanian composer, violinist, conductor and teacher. Regarded as one of the greatest musicians in Romanian history, Enescu is featured on the Romanian five lei. Biog ...

, but stopped playing it to dedicate herself to singing. In 1914, Janacópulos performed for the first time in a singing recital, along with Madalena Tagliaferro. The soprano has had a successful career performing in several countries in Europe (Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland), North America (United States) and South America (Argentina and Brazil) and Asia (

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

and

Celebes Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu A ...

). She performed works by

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

(with whom she adapted his opera ''

The Love for Three Oranges ''The Love for Three Oranges'', Op. 33, also known by its French language title ' (russian: Любовь к трём апельсинам, links=no, ''Lyubov' k tryom apel'sinam''), is a satirical opera by Sergei Prokofiev. Its French libretto ...

''),

Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...

Manuel de Falla Manuel de Falla y Matheu (, 23 November 187614 November 1946) was an Andalusian Spanish composer and pianist. Along with Isaac Albéniz, Francisco Tárrega, and Enrique Granados, he was one of Spain's most important musicians of the first hal ...

and

Heitor Villa-Lobos Heitor Villa-Lobos (March 5, 1887November 17, 1959) was a Brazilian composer, conductor, cellist, and classical guitarist described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the ...

, helping to disseminate the work of the Brazilian composer abroad. Janacópulos returned to Brazil in 1940, establishing herself in São Paulo, where she presented a classical music program for Radio Gazeta for eight years. She was also a singing teacher, where she lectured at the

University of São Paulo The University of São Paulo ( pt, Universidade de São Paulo, USP) is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian public university and the country's most prestigious educational institution, the best ...

's Escola de Arte Dramática (School of Dramatic Arts).

Death

Janacópulos died in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, on 5 December 1955.

Homages

bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places *Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazine ...

of the singer was sculpted by her sister Adriana, in 1958.The sculpture is located at Praça Paris in Rio de Janeiro. Janacópulos' archives are collected in the

Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro The Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro ( pt, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, UNIRIO), is one of the four federally funded public universities in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It has several campuses in the ...

Center of Language and Arts library; an auditorium at the institution is also named after her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Janacopulos, Vera Brazilian sopranos Brazilian people of Greek descent 1955 deaths People from Petrópolis 1892 births 20th-century Brazilian women singers 20th-century Brazilian singers