Moffo, Anna
Moffo, Anna
Moffo, Anna, noted American soprano; b. Wayne, Pa., June 27, 1932. She was of Italian descent. She studied voice at the Curtis Inst. of Music in Philadelphia, and later went to Italy on a Fulbright fellowship and studied at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome. She made her debut as Norina in Spoleto in 1955, and, progressing rapidly in her career, was engaged at La Scala in Milan, at the Vienna State Opera, and in Paris. She made her U.S. debut as Mimi with the Chicago Lyric Opera in 1957; on Nov. 14, 1959, she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in N.Y. as Violetta, obtaining a gratifying success; sang regularly at the Metropolitan and other major opera houses in the U.S. and Europe until she suffered a vocal breakdown in 1974; then resumed her career in 1976, but then abandoned it a few years later. In her prime, she became known for her fine portrayals of such roles as Pamina, the 4 heroines in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Gilda, Massenet’s Manon, Mélisande, Juliet, Luisa Miller, and Gounod’s Marguerite.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire