Anna Moffo: Much Love For Baby Callas

or It's hard out here for a Pimp
Metropolitan Opera Guild to Present Gala Tribute to Anna Moffo

Anna Moffo, lived through the hardest times. She died on March 9 of this year, and was one of the Metropolitan Opera's best-loved sopranos during the 1960s. The Metropolitan Opera Guild will pay homage to her life and work next month with "Anna Moffo — A Celebration," a gala set for Wednesday, September 20 at 7:30 pm at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in New York. Information on and tickets for "Anna Moffo — A Celebration" can be obtained by calling 1-212-769-7009.

Anna Moffo, a Metropolitan Opera singer noted for her beauty, radiant coloratura soprano, and convincing dramatic abilities, sang Musetta to Callas' only Mimi recorded. They got along fine. Callas took her under her wing as the next bel canto singer. For a while, Moffo held the down the fort, however, with a taxing schedule of opera, TV, and film performances, she was reputed to have pushed her voice too hard and by the late 1960s it had become unreliable. In later years, her voice thickened and her vibrato wasn't as good. Perhaps because she made so many recordings she overtaxed her voice. It seemed to decline suddenly and her singing lost its freshness.

Her Metropolitan Opera debut was in 1959 as Violetta in Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata. She had a 17-season career there and sung 220 performances in 18 operas, with roles including Violetta, Gilda, Manon, Liù, Pamina, Juliette, Nedda, Mélisande, Mimì, Cio-Cio-San, the four heroines of Les Contes d'Hoffman (Stella, Olympia, Giulietta, and Antonia), Lucia, Marguerite, and others. Her non-Met roles included Amina, Adriana Lecouvreur, Kate (in The Taming of the Shrew), Fiora, Rachel, Marie (in La Fille du Régiment), and more. Her last appearance with the company was as Violetta, in 1976.

'Always alone'

The singer told The Times in 1977 that she was pushed too early in her career and had been forced to take time off to strengthen her vocal technique.

"I was working much too hard and travelling too much. I got mixed up in TV, films and things like that.

"Psychologically I was miserable and always alone. But I don't think I was singing that badly until I reached a point where I was just so tired," she said.


Suggested Listening
CANTELOUBE: SONGS OF THE AUVERGNE, ET. AL ----- MOFFO/STOKOWSKI *****
©1965 RCA Victor
Even though Bidu Sayao and Victoria de los Angeles recorded these songs, Anna Moffo made you love them. Anna Moffo made you listen to them all day. Anna Moffo made them synonomous with Pop music in the 60's. These songs eclipse her operatic career in my opinion because she is in perfect voice at this recording. Her voice is free, full and absolutely scrumptious. Her legato is spun silk. Every song is a hit. It's almost like listening to pop music but it is legitimately classical. From the power of "L'antouèno" to "Pastourelle," "Bailero," and "Brezairola" to the seductive quality of Villa-Lobos's "Aria (Cantilena)." The melancholy, beautiful tone of her voice is like a dream.

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Comments: Whether or not she continued singing over tiredness or nodes, we will never know. But whatever she did on her path, she lost her voice. We as singers must remember that we inevitably have to look out for our own voices. No one - be it coach, teacher, managers, impresario, husbands, wives - is going to respect our gift the way we will. And we can expect no one to respect our gift the way we will. If we will. That said, love yourself and respect your gift.

Who's Hot at the MET

#1 ) Anna Netrebko is going to be a wonderful Elvira in I Puritani. It is one of my favorite "Callas" roles. I believe Callas recorded it in 1958. I think it is a good choice for Netrebko because it is bel canto and the costumes are beautiful and so is she. Also, she has the vocal weight to give us a big sound. She also will get to sing Qui la voce sua soave and Son vergin vezzosa two beautiful arias that were last made famous by Dame Joan Sutherland. This leaves me to think that Miss Netrebko is going to provoke another bel canto revival worldwide and I sure hope so. Radio Broadcast January 6, 2007, 1:30 WQXR

#2 )Cristina Gallardo-Domâs - is making her debut as Cio-Cio San opening night and there is a free rehearsal open to the public. She must be planning to max out ticket sales. And although I didn't see this new star rising, I suspect she is a sure bet. Because why would they put an unknown in this role on opening night. We will see. She is also alternating Mimi with Netrebko which will be broadcast February 3, 2007, 1:30 WQXR

#3 )Marcello Giordani - I'm going to have to stick this tenor in here because he is HOT. Marcello is singing Pinkerton to Gallardo-Domas' Cio-Cio San opening night and for the rehearsal. He is also singing Gabriele with Angela Gheorghiu in Simon Boccanegra.

#4 ) Angela Gheorghiu - The magnificent Angela Gheorghiu sings Amelia in Simone Bocannegra, and Marcello Giordani is her lover Gabriele, in this tale of political struggle and abduction in 14th-century Genoa.

#5 ) Patricia Racette - I think the surprise of the year is going to be Patricia Racette in Don Carlo Broadcast December 23, 2006, 1:00 p.m. ET WQXR. Girlfriend got rave reviews from her Madama Butterfly out West this year and I want to give a shout out to Pat to "continue the trend" of real vocalism. Viva Verdi!

#6 ) Dolora Zajick - As Azucena in Chicago Lyric's Il trovatore - You can't get any HOTTER than this. Sondra Radvanovsky portrays Leonora so this is going to be HOT. These ladies are smokin.

#7 ) Ana Maria Martinez - As Donna Elvira in Chicago Lyric's Don Giovanni. Everyone needs to keep an eye on this girl. She sang Michaela in Denyce Graves' Carmen and this girl has pianissimi for days. Hopefully she will be the next Liu with those piannisimi con morbido.

The Countess

The Countess - Last Night's Master Class
In last night's master class I sang Porgi amor and the recit to Dove sono. In English. As preferred by the conductor of this particular company I am singing the Countess at. The Countess requires vocal and breathing choreography, long phrases which require deep slow breaths. Singing the Countess is like Yoga: Its requires pure relaxation. You have to cut off the end of those phrases so that you can breath deep into your body. It is very meditative. I prefer the slower tempi to both arias because I personally need to breathe low and deep. Someone commented at the Master Class that my emotion was expressionless. While I understood what they meant, the Countess has a melancholy spirit in opening of Act 2 in Porgi amor. The music is tears. She is having a pity party. She is sort of "dead pan" until she says "give me back my treasure or let me die!" Unlike Dove sono's cabaletta when she says she would like to revive the "dead" emotion of her heartless lover, Porgi amor is pure steady vocalism; lyric, legato, coffee & cream. Mozart gives you time to pour on the milk. Which goes back to say that her emotion is rather vocal steady and not with the face. She is not Susanna. She is not coquette. It is not until Act 3 that she is ready to revive the Count's dead emotion. She and Ann Trulove have this "I'm going to get him back no matter what it takes." Therefore, I think I was right to sing Porgi amor with pure voice and not with the face. The face always stays calm in singing. I do not believe in mugging. I think mugging is a bad practice: Kathy Battle, Cecilia Bartoli, Natalie Dessay. One should always look beautiful while singing aka Marlena Malas.

Traviata Review: MET Opera in the Parks, 8/22/06
Cast
Hei-Kyung Hong - Violetta
Wookyung Kim - Alfredo
Charles Taylor - Giorgio Germont.
Derrick Inouye - conductor
Our wonderful colleage JP got us VIP seating in the front section of the Great Lawn. Kudos to JP. However, thank God the MET opera in the parks is free. I would have hated to have payed $120 for an orchestra seat. Hei-Kyung Hong was quite disappointing. I understand this was her debut in the role but her voice was unstable. She cracked about 5 times, her voice waivered on high notes, and she has a wobble in her middle from trying to push her voice up to the fach required. She pulled back into her flute register on her high notes and did not take the Eb (not required) in Sempre Libera, and sang her high notes like christmas trees: the higher she went up the smaller the sound got. Thank the Lord for the mics. We all crossed our fingers. JP screamed out explotives to the cast as we received angry stares from other listeners. She did deliver in Addio del Passato, alas, it was not enough to save face. I saw her Liu last year with Andrea Gruber as Turandot and she was fabulous and I will remember her for that. Wookyung Kim as Alfredo was strong and did not disappoint. Charles Taylor as Germont had a big resonant baritone voice but lacked legato. In his big Act 2 aria, he took breaths after every two measures chopping up the phrases. Derrick Inouye as conductor, did not breathe with the singers and conducted like he was driving a train -just plowing through everything. The orchestra saved this performance.