The Italian-American lyric-coloratura soprano Anna Moffo (1932-2006) was the ideal Violetta in Verdi´s La Traviata. Moffo, who sang altogether 80 performances as the courtesan at the Met and in many other leading opera houses, was known for her "beauty, brains and a shimmering, radiant soprano", wrote the Met´s Opera News Online in its obituary.
Elizabeth Forbes, writing in the Independent, highlighted Moffo´s Violetta:
In many ways, Violetta was her finest role. Most singers who tackle Verdi's frail heroine excel either in the coloratura of the first act, or in the lyrical music of the second and third. Moffo, who could let off vocal fireworks with the greatest ease, and whose lyrical phrasing was a constant delight, excelled in both. The complete authenticity of her appearance naturally added a great deal of pathos to her interpretation.
Fortunately, for friends of Italian opera, there is a musically and visually radiant version of La Traviata on DVD with Moffo in her signature role together with tenor Franco Bonisolli and baryton Gino Bechi. The film was directed in 1968 by Moffo´s then husband Mario Lanfranchi. If you do not have this DVD, I urge you to buy it. Anna Moffo is stunning and the other singers are also very good. And how refreshing it is to enjoy the sheer beaty of a production that is true to the music and the libretto! Not, like so often nowadays in opera, with singers performing the beatiful original music, but dressed in nazi uniforms or some other kind of strange outfits.
Here is an excerpt from the DVD:
Here is an excerpt from the DVD:
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