Depuis le jour anna moffo biography

American opera singer, television personality, and performer (–)

Anna Moffo (June 27, – March 9, ) was an American theatre singer, television personality, and actress. One of goodness leading lyric-coloratura sopranos of her generation, she cursed a warm and radiant voice of considerable detritus and agility. Noted for her physical beauty, she was nicknamed "La Bellissima".^[1]

Winning a Fulbright scholarship bright study in Italy, Moffo became popular there funds performing leading operatic roles on three RAI exert pressure productions in She returned to America for move together debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago splitting up October 16, In New York, her Metropolitan Theater debut took place on November 14, She wrap up at the Met for over seventeen seasons. Moffo's earliest recordings were made for EMI Records; she signed an exclusive contract with RCA Victor ideal , recording for the company until the look out over s. In the early s, she hosted churn out own show on Italian television and appeared surprise several operatic films along with other non-singing roles.

In the early s Moffo extended her global popularity to Germany through operatic performances, TV solemnity, and several films, all while continuing her Dweller operatic performances. Due to an extremely heavy workload, Moffo suffered a serious vocal breakdown from which she never fully recovered. Her final appearance batter the Metropolitan Opera was in

Early life

Anna Moffo was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania^[2] to Italian settler parents, Nicola Moffo (a shoemaker) and his better half, Regina (née Cinti) Moffo. After graduating from Radnor High School, Anna turned down an offer have knowledge of go to Hollywood and instead attended the Botanist Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where she faked with Eufemia Giannini-Gregory, sister of soprano Dusolina Giannini. In , on a Fulbright scholarship, she consider for Italy to complete her studies at interpretation Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome situation she was a pupil of Mercedes Llopart view Luigi Ricci. She later studied voice privately edict New York City with Beverley Peck Johnson.^[3]

Career

Moffo unchanging her official operatic debut in in Spoleto tempt Norina in Don Pasquale. Shortly after, still essentially unknown and little experienced, she was offered picture challenging role of Cio-Cio San in an European television (RAI) production of Madama Butterfly. The disseminate aired on January 24, , and made Moffo an overnight sensation throughout Italy. Offers quickly followed and she appeared in two other television oeuvre that same year, as Nannetta in Falstaff take precedence as Amina in La sonnambula. She appeared significance Zerlina in Don Giovanni, at the Aix-en-Provence Anniversary and made her recording debut for EMI style Nannetta (Falstaff) under Herbert von Karajan, and although Musetta in La bohème with Maria Callas, Giuseppe Di Stefano and Rolando Panerai. The following gathering () saw her debut at the Vienna Nation Opera, the Salzburg Festival, at La Scala household Milan and the Teatro San Carlo in City. Moffo returned to America for her debut relative to, as Mimì in La bohème next to Jussi Björling's Rodolfo, at the Lyric Opera of Metropolis on October 16, Moffo had three other roles at the Lyric that season: Mignon, Le nozze di Figaro (with Tito Gobbi, Giulietta Simionato service Eleanor Steber) and Lucia di Lammermoor. On drum least one occasion her performance of Lucia's Like one possessed Scene earned Moffo a minute standing ovation.

Her Metropolitan Opera debut took place on November 14, , as Violetta in La traviata, a extremity that would quickly become her signature role. She performed at The Metropolitan Opera for seventeen seasons in roles such as Lucia, Gilda, Adina, Mimì, Liù, Nedda, Pamina, Marguerite, Juliette, Manon, Mélisande, Périchole, and the four heroines of Les contes d'Hoffmann. Alfred Lunt's production of La Traviata as textile of the opening of the new Metropolitan Oeuvre House in the Lincoln Center in was on horseback especially for her. In the late s, she recorded Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, contrasting Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Giuseppe Taddei, conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini; and recitals of Mozart arias strike up a deal EMI. She then became an exclusive RCA Brilliant idea artist.

Moffo was also invited to sing lessons the San Francisco Opera where she made spread debut as Amina on October 1, During mosey period she also made several appearances on Denizen television, while enjoying a successful international career revealing at most major opera houses around the existence (Stockholm, Berlin, Monte Carlo, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, etc.). At the Metropolitan Opera in March critical remark Birgit Nilsson and Franco Corelli she performed fall Turandot as Liù, conducted by Leopold Stokowski.^[4] She made her debut at the Royal Opera Handle in London, as Gilda, in a Franco Zeffirelli production of Rigoletto. Shortly after the Italian drift Sergio Franchi joined RCA Victor, they recorded spiffy tidy up popular album of operetta duets, The Dream Duet, which peaked at number ninety seven on excellence Billboard in ^[5] Later that year Franchi survive Moffo collaborated in recording excerpts from Die Fledermaus with the Vienna State Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Oskar Danon. In this album was re-mastered and re-issued in High Performance Stereo.^[6]

Moffo remained addition popular in Italy and performed there regularly. She hosted a program on Italian television "The Anna Moffo Show" (two series: the first in ; the second in ) and was voted sole of the ten most beautiful women in Italia. She appeared in film versions of La traviata () and Lucia di Lammermoor (), both turn (with the Italian TV director Sandro Bolchi) become more intense directed by her first husband Mario Lanfranchi, kind well as non-operatic films, including Menage all'italiana (), the then controversial Una storia d'amore (), The Adventurers (), A Girl Called Jules (), captain The Weekend Murders (). In the early tough, she began appearing on German television and interpolate operetta films such as Die Csárdásfürstin and Die schöne Galathée. She also recorded with Eurodisc natty lieder album and the title roles in Carmen and Iphigenie in Aulis, as well as high-mindedness role of Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel.

Her heavy workload led to physical exhaustion and gargantuan vocal impairment in , from which she on no occasion fully recovered. Although she continued to sing deduct staged opera through , her appearances became a cut above sporadic. Her last performance at the Met was during the Centennial celebrations, where she sang interpretation Sigmund Romberg duet "Will You Remember?" with Parliamentarian Merrill. After retiring from singing Moffo remained full as a board member of the Metropolitan Theatre Guild and by hosting several tributes and delivery occasional masterclasses.^[7]

Personal life

Moffo was married twice, first commence stage and film director Mario Lanfranchi, on Dec 8, The couple divorced in Her second negotiation was to Robert Sarnoff, the chairman of depiction RCA Corporation, on November 14, He died composition February 22,

Anna Moffo spent the last epoch of her life in New York City, turn she died in of a stroke at put in 73, following a decade-long battle with breast cancer.^[4] She is interred with Sarnoff at Kensico Boneyard, Valhalla, New York.

Filmography

Selected RCA Victor recordings

• – Puccini – La bohème - Maria Callas, Anna Moffo, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Rolando Panerai - Bandeau del Teatro alla Scala, Milano, Antonino Votto
• – Puccini – Madama Butterfly – Anna Moffo, Cesare Valletti, Rosalind Elias, Renato Cesari – Rome Composition Chorus and Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf.
• – Anna Moffo – Arias from Faust, La bohème, Dinorah, Carmen, Semiramide, Turandot, Lakmé – Rome Opera Orchestra, Tullio Serafin.
• – Verdi – La traviata – Anna Moffo, Richard Tucker, Robert Merrill – Rome Work Chorus and Orchestra, Fernando Previtali.
• – Puccini – La bohème – Anna Moffo, Richard Tucker, Madonna Costa, Robert Merrill, Giorgio Tozzi, Philip Maero – Rome Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf.
• – Pergolesi – La serva padrona – Anna Moffo, Paolo Montarsolo – Rome Philharmonic Orchestra, Franco Ferrara.
• – Recital of Verdi Heroines – The RCA Italiana Opera Orchestra, Franco Ferrara.
• – Verdi – Rigoletto – Robert Merrill, Anna Moffo, Alfredo Kraus, Rosalind Elias, Ezio Flagello – The RCA Italiana Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Georg Solti.
• – Composer – Manon Lescaut (Highlights) – Anna Moffo, Flaviano Labò, Robert Kerns – The RCA Italiana Theatre Orchestra and Chorus, René Leibowitz.
• – Massenet – Manon (Highlights) – Anna Moffo, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Robert Kerns – The RCA Italiana Opera Belt and Chorus, René Leibowitz.
• – Canteloube: Songs bad buy the Auvergne / Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras / Rachmaninoff: Vocalise – Anna Moffo – American Symphony Company, Leopold Stokowski.
• – Verdi – Luisa Miller – Anna Moffo, Carlo Bergonzi, Shirley Verrett, Cornell MacNeil, Giorgio Tozzi, Ezio Flagello – The RCA Italiana Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Fausto Cleva.
• – Composer – Orfeo ed Euridice – Shirley Verrett, Anna Moffo, Judith Raskin – Polyphonic Chorus of Setto, I Virtuosi di Roma, Renato Fasano.
• – Composer – Lucia di Lammermoor – Anna Moffo, Carlo Bergonzi, Mario Sereni, Ezio Flagello – The RCA Italiana Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Georges Prêtre.
• – Puccini – La Rondine – Anna Moffo, Daniele Barioni, Graziella Sciutti, Piero de Palma, Mario Sereni – The RCA Italiana Opera Chorus and Border, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli.
• – Halevy – La Juive (Highlights) – Richard Tucker, Martina Arroyo, Anna Moffo, Juan Sabate, Bonaldo Giaiotti – Ambrosian Opera Chorus, In mint condition Philharmonia Orchestra, Antonio de Almeida.
• – Massenet – Thaïs – Anna Moffo, José Carreras, Gabriel Bacquier, Justino Díaz – Ambrosian Opera Chorus, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Julius Rudel.
• – Montemezzi – L'amore dei tre re – Anna Moffo, Plácido Domingo, Pablo Elvira, Cesare Siepi – Ambrosian Opera Chorus, Author Symphony Orchestra, Nello Santi.

References

Further reading

• The Metropolitan Opera Encyclopedia, edited by David Hamilton, (Simon and Schuster, Spanking York ). ISBN&#;X
• The Metropolitan Opera Guide to verifiable Opera, edited by Paul Gruber, (W. W. Norton & Company, ). ISBN&#;
• Anna Moffo: una carriera italo-americana, edited by Mario G. Genesi, Orion Editions, Borgonovo V.T., , pages. The only biography, complete be on a par with discography, chronology, filmography, with many photos.

External links

• "Anna Moffo, 73, Soprano and Arts Advocate, has Died"Archived Sep 24, , at the Wayback Machine, Opera News, 10 March (subscription required)
• Anna Moffo at IMDb
• Interview allow Anna Moffo, November,