Elías Reis e Silva, Brazilian tenor, was born in Recife (Pernambuco) in 1895.
He was married to the Brazilian dramatic soprano Carmen Gomes (1900–1955).
I have no information about his musical education or the exact date for his debut, but he appears on 27 July 1922 in a solo concert at the
Instituto Musical Verdi in Montevideo (Uruguay). The program informs that his wife was the pianist in that concert.
In February and March 1928 he appeared as first tenor in a national opera company that gave performances in São Paulo (Brazil) at the
Municipal, Coliseu, Capitolio, Colombo and other theatres. The company employed only Brazilian singers, and Reis e Silva was considered the
"star" of all the performances, "a conscientious and intelligent artist, endowed with great vocal resources". In April/May 1928, they
continued at the Teatro São Pedro in Porto Alegre. His repertory comprised Il trovatore, Tosca, Rigoletto, La
bohème, Il Guarany, La traviata and Aida. The same company later also gave performances in Pelotas.
In 1929, Reis e Silva sang at the Teatro Santana in São Paulo in Il Guarany, Pagliacci and Il trovatore, with
Brazilian singers Carmen Eiras, Gilda Colombo, Lina Barberi, Giovanni Faini, Ernesto de Marco, João Athos, Salvador Perrotta and others.
Reis e Silva sang for the first time in Buenos Aires, at the Teatro Marconi, from September to November 1931. His performances there were
Il trovatore, La Gioconda, Aida, Tosca, Pagliacci, La forza del destino, Cavalleria rusticana,
Otello and Andrea Chénier. His wife, Carmen Gomes, was the soprano in almost all the performances. At his debut in Il
trovatore (26 September 1931), Reis e Silva obtained a personal triumph and was warmly received by public and critics: "Reis e Silva has
an outstanding high register. He reaches, effortlessly, the C and demonstrated it in the second act duet with Leonora and in "la Pira", where
he gave a C of such sonority and duration that it was perhaps an excess. It must be also considered that this singer owns a privileged throat
of such strength that he sang "la Pira" three times, without showing any sign of being tired. On the contrary, in each encore his highest
notes seemed brighter and clearer. His phrasing is not as remarkable as his high notes, but even so he sings very well and moves easily on
stage." (El Diario, 28 September 1931) He was to return to Argentina only once more, in 1938.
In 1933, the tenor sang in national companies at the Teatro João Caetano (Rio de Janeiro), Teatro São Pedro and Cine-Teatro
Avenida (Porto Alegre), Theatro Municipal and Casino Antarctica (São Paulo). Reis a Silva was the organizer and musical director of
these seasons, and he sang namely with Carmen Gomes as his partner. His repertory was the usual one: Il trovatore, Aida,
Tosca, Pagliacci, Otello and Il Guarany.
Reis e Silva's 1933 season at the Theatro Municipal in São Paulo went from 12 to 24 July; he sang Aida, La bohème,
Il Guarany, Pagliacci, Tosca, Il trovatore and Otello. He sang again there in 1941 and 1942. In that last
season at the Municipal, he sang Il trovatore with an outstanding international cast that included Norina Greco, Vera Eltzova, Leonard
Warren and José Perrotta.
In 1934, Reis e Silva sang for the first time at the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro, in its reopening season. He inaugurated the season
singing the role of Fabiano in Maria Tudor by Gomes, on 15 August. The other parts were sung by Carmen Gomes, Antonieta de Souza,
Asdrubal Lima and José Perrotta. On 19 September he sang his successful Manrico in Il trovatore with an international cast
that included Gina Cigna, Ebe Stignani, Victor Damiani and José Santiago Font.
At the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro, he sang again in 1935, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949 and 1950. He
sang mostly his usual repertory and in casts formed basically from Brazilian singers (Il trovatore, Aida, Tosca,
Pagliacci, Cavalleria rusticana, La forza del destino, Andrea Chénier, Carmen and La
bohème). I must, however, mention some exceptional performances:
1935 (7 August, 8 September): Fosca (by Gomes), role: Paolo, with Carmen Gomes, Giuseppe Danise, Nerina Ferrari
1935 (23 November): Il Guarany (by Gomes), role: Pery, with Carmen Gomes, Silvio Vieira and João Athos
1937 (12 September): Il trovatore, with Margherita Grandi, Nini Giani, Armando Borgioli and Corrado Zambelli
1937 (21 September): Lucrezia (by Ottorino Respighi), role: Bruto, with Maria Caniglia, Nini Giani, Victor Damiani, Silvio Vieira
1939 (18 June): Descobremento de Brasil (by Eleazar de Carvalho), role: Pero Vaz de Caminha, with Carmen Gomes, Silvio Vieira,
Alexandre de Lucchi
1944 (15 September): Odalea (Condor) (by Gomes), role: Condor, with Maria Helena Martins, Sara César, Maria Augusta Costa,
Americo Basso, José Perrotta
1946 (8 September): La forza del destino, with Zinka Milanov, Martha Lipton, Gino Bechi, Giacomo Vaghi and Gerhard Pechner
1946 (15 September): Salvator Rosa (by Gomes), role: Salvator Rosa, with Heloisa de Albuquerque, Paulo Fortes, Carla Caputi, Americo
Basso
In 1935, Reis e Silva sang again at the Teatro São Pedro in Porto Alegre:
5 October: Tosca, with Carmen Gomes and Giuseppe Danise
12 October: Il trovatore, with Carmen Gomes, Rina Gallo Toscani, Victor Damiani and Giorgio Lanskoy
13 October: Carmen, with Gabriella Besanzoni, Iracema Follador, Victor Damiani and Giorgio Lanskoy
15 October: Pagliacci, with Nerina Ferrari, Victor Damiani and Mario Girotti
As we have seen Reis e Silva was a tenor that made an outstanding career mostly in his own country. As far as I have been able to find out,
he only sang outside of Brazil in 1931 and 1938 in Argentina, and in 1938 in Chile. From January to March 1938, Reis e Silva was in Argentina
singing in the open air summer season of the Teatro Colón that took place in the Palermo Gardens in Buenos Aires. He sang in Andrea
Chénier, Rigoletto and Pagliacci.
He visited Chile only once, in September 1938. He sang at the Teatro Municipal in Santiago:
3 September: Aida, with Carmen Gomes, Conchita Velázquez, Alberto López and Joaquín Alsina
6 September: Carmen, with Conchita Velázquez, Amanda Cetera and Alberto López
8 and 13 September: Il trovatore, with Carmen Gomes, Conchita Velázquez, Carlos Ramírez and Joaquín Alsina
20 September: Cavalleria rusticana, with Carmen Gomes and Eugenio Dall'Argine
The reviews were not good: "He sang under unfavourable conditions due to a strong cold" and "He did not please the audience. His voice was
throaty and of limited volume."
In 1946 he sang in São Paulo for the last time, but now at the Teatro Santana, Il trovatore with Graziella Salerno, Gilda Rosa,
Joaquín Villa and Americo Basso.
The last performance of Reis e Silva at the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro (and probably in his career) was on 1 May 1950. He sang
Manrico in Il trovatore, with Nadir de Mello Couto, Maria Henriques, Paolo Fortes and Carlo Walter.
Reis e Silva died in Rio de Janeiro on 1 November 1958.
Juan Dzazópulos
