1. Anna Moffo was an American opera singer, television personality, and actress.
20 Facts About Anna Moffo
1. 2.
Anna Moffo returned to America for her debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on October 16,1957.
3.
Anna Moffo performed at the Met for over seventeen seasons.
4.
Anna Moffo was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Italian immigrant parents, Nicola Moffo and his wife, Regina Moffo.
5.
Anna Moffo later studied voice privately in New York City with Beverley Peck Johnson.
6.
Anna Moffo made her official operatic debut in 1955 in Spoleto as Norina in Don Pasquale.
7.
Anna Moffo appeared as Zerlina in Don Giovanni, at the Aix-en-Provence Festival and made her recording debut for EMI as Nannetta under Herbert von Karajan, and as Musetta in La boheme with Maria Callas, Giuseppe Di Stefano and Rolando Panerai.
8.
Anna Moffo returned to America for her debut there, as Mimi in La boheme next to Jussi Bjorling's Rodolfo, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on October 16,1957.
9.
Anna Moffo had three other roles at the Lyric that season: Mignon, Le nozze di Figaro and Lucia di Lammermoor.
10.
Anna Moffo performed at The Metropolitan Opera for seventeen seasons in roles such as Lucia, Gilda, Adina, Mimi, Liu, Nedda, Pamina, Marguerite, Juliette, Manon, Melisande, Perichole, and the four heroines of Les contes d'Hoffmann.
11.
Anna Moffo was invited to sing at the San Francisco Opera where she made her debut as Amina on October 1,1960.
12.
Anna Moffo made her debut at the Royal Opera House in London, as Gilda, in a Franco Zeffirelli production of Rigoletto.
13.
Later that year Franchi and Anna Moffo collaborated in recording excerpts from Die Fledermaus with the Vienna State Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Oskar Danon.
14.
Anna Moffo remained particularly popular in Italy and performed there regularly.
15.
Anna Moffo hosted a program on Italian television "The Anna Moffo Show" and was voted one of the ten most beautiful women in Italy.
16.
Anna Moffo appeared in film versions of La traviata and Lucia di Lammermoor, both produced and directed by her first husband Mario Lanfranchi, as well as non-operatic films, including Menage all'italiana, the then controversial Una storia d'amore, The Adventurers, A Girl Called Jules, and The Weekend Murders.
17.
Anna Moffo recorded with Eurodisc a lieder album and the title roles in Carmen and Iphigenie in Aulis, as well as the role of Hansel in Hansel und Gretel.
18.
Anna Moffo was married twice, first to stage and film director Mario Lanfranchi, on December 8,1957.
19.
Anna Moffo spent the last years of her life in New York City, where she died in 2006 of a stroke at age 73, following a decade-long battle with breast cancer.
20.
Anna Moffo is interred with Sarnoff at Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York.