Zaíra Oliveira, a soprano singer with classical formation by the National Institute of Music, also had a career as a popular singer and recorded several successful solo albums and duets with Baiano, Carmen Miranda, and others. In 1921, she won first prize in a contest at the National Institute of Music. In that period, she was already performing at the Rádio Sociedade do Rio de Janeiro accompanied by the Regional do Canhoto. In 1924, she recorded her first album with two fox trots: Cabeleira à la Garçonne (Pedro Sá Pereira/Américo F. Guimarães) and La Monteria (J. Guerrero). In 1925, she performed at the Teatro Municipal de Niterói the Tosca (Puccini), Berceuse (Alberto Nepomuceno), and Il Schiavo (Carlos Gomez), as well as the popular songs A Despedida (Eduardo Souto/Bastos Tigre) and Cantiga Praiana (Eduardo Souto/Vicente Carvalho). With Catulo da Paixão Cearense and Gastão Formenti, Oliveira performed at the Cassino Copacabana Palace. In 1932, she married Donga. Her biggest successes were Canção dos Infelizes (Donga/Luís Peixoto, 1931), Cantiga (Eduardo Souto), Choroso (unknown), Dondoca (Freitinhas), Eu Só Quero é Conhecer (Eduardo Souto), Fado da Bossa (Donga/Augusto Calheiros), Guitarrada (Eduardo Souto), Já Mandei (Pixinguinha/Donga/João da Baiana, 1932), Pode Bater (Luperce Miranda/Osvaldo Santiago, 1931), Quando Me Lembro (Eduardo Souto/João da Praia), and Sonhei Que Era Feliz (Ary Barroso) in duet with Carmen Miranda. ~ Alvaro Neder, Rovi