ALL-AMERICAN PRIMA DONNA: ANNA MOFFO

By Carl Sigmon

Anna Moffo’s singing has been compared to Galli-Curci and her pulchritude to Ava Gardner. Italians have voted her one of the ten most beautiful women and dub her “L’Exotica” and “La Diva Imperiale.” When’ I recently met her, I was surprised when she said, “I was not always like you see me now. I was terribly inhibited, and never allowed to date or wear make-up.” Throughout her childhood, she added, people constantly told her that she was gauche and inept. One of her outlets was sports; for all the trophies she won in tennis, hockey, and basketball, she might well be the all-American prima donna. Her first love was the piano, which she studied for ten years. And she sang, “because all Italians sing!” This brought the usual appearances in choirs, school assemblies, weddings and funerals in Wayne, Pennsylvania, where she was born and grew up.

At 16, never having studied voice and knowing but one aria, “Un bel, di” (Moffo calls it her “lucky piece”) she applied for admission to the Curtis Institute of Music.’ She was accepted and prospered. Her extraordinary ear, naturally placed voice and excellent sight reading aided her. A Fulbright grant for study in Italy, she believes, made her career possible. “During that year, I really learned to sing.” Traveling m Europe also opened her eyes to the outside world.

Circumstances again permitted Anna Moffo to use her “lucky piece.” The place was Rome, 1956, the occasion a television audition for the part of Butterfly. Before she could sing, the director rejected her for not looking Japanese (she is 5’7” without heels). However, finding no one else, he gave her an audition and was overwhelmed. She was given the part and became an idol overnight—her shyness was gone forever. Italian enthusiasm knew no bounds. The Carriere della Sera proclaimed hers “A voice of the sweetness and brilliance of our heavens.” Engagements followed in major opera houses in Italy; all of Europe followed suit.

Television director-producer Mario Lanfranchi, whose father had been head of the Parma Opera for 30 years, became her mentor, companion, and then husband. He helped extend her range to embrace coloratura roles, and now travels with Miss Moffo, guiding her work while continuing his own career. They both collect jazz records, and he writes lyrics for which Anna supplies pop tunes (one of them, “Citta,” became an immediate hit when sung by her on Italian TV). Miss Moffo and Mr. Lanfranchi make their home in Italy, not far from Abruzzi, where her father’s family lived, but also maintain a New York apartment. Anna is fond of everything Italian and speaks the language fluently.

The impact of Moffo’s American debut is still fresh. It took place in Chicago in 1958, as Mimi in “Bohème;” the Rodolfo was the late Jussi Bjoerling. San Francisco was next, and in November, 1959, Moffo made a sensational Metropolitan debut as Violetta in “Traviata.” Time magazine hailed her as “ . . . one of the best lyric-coloratura sopranos in the world.” For Moffo, “Traviata” was added to the Met’s 1961 tour, though it had not been in the repertoire that season.

New roles at the Met followed for the 27-year-old soprano: Lucia, Marguerite (“Faust”), Gilda (“Rigoletto”) and Liù (“Turandot”). Last December, Mélisande was added, showing the soprano’s versatility and musicality in a work minus the trappings of grand opera. (My meeting with Miss Moffo took place after the first orchestral rehearsal of “Pelléas.” Coming from an exacting day’s work in a new role and with a new conductor, Ernest Ansermet, Miss Moffo looked as if she were beginning rather than ending her day.)

Moffo knows 80 roles, of which she sings 60—a fact she nonchalantly dismisses as the result of a change of voice to embrace coloratura parts. Her memory is phenomenal, and she averages 100 appearances a year. Time is also found for study, review, and personal responsibilities. And of course there are recordings: “Bohème” and “Butterfly” (both with Leinsdorf), “Traviata” and “Capriccio,” among others. At least one album of arias has become a best-seller. When asked about future recording plans, there was a knowing and impish look and a “wait and see” response. Judging from the past, we expect Miss Moffo and RCA Victor to come up with a surprise; fortunately, Miss Moffo has not yet settled into predictability.

Audiences will soon be seeing another aspect of her talent in the movie “Austerlitz,” made with Orson Welles in which she takes a straight dramatic part. Her current American season interrupted the shooting in Italy of “The Beloved,” a bilingual film due to be completed next summer, in which she also sings. Miss Moffo thinks “movies are a wonderful opportunity to improve as an actress.” (Many critics, however, have felt that she needs no improvement.)

Our conversation ranged over a variety of subjects. Miss Moffo feels that present-day America is the country most advanced musically and culturally. She advises young singers to read the lyrics or libretto first, then tackle the music. When questioned about being called a lyric-coloratura, she said, “just plain soprano will do.” Miss Moffo favors no musical medium over others, and simply wants to sing, whether concerts, oratorio or opera.

Anna Moffo does not diet (about the only Americanism she lacks), nor does she need to. As for relaxation, she seldom has time for sports now, except for an occasional game of tennis. She pursues at least three hobbies: “Hats, horses and antiques, but not necessarily in that order.” She has a sizable collection of each. She especially loves horses, and visits race tracks whenever possible. Her hats are a trade mark, and on this occasion she wore a very complicated but becoming black one.

Miss Moffo has been busy enough for three active people. Her rise has been swift, her position is secure, and her ability to expand seems unlimited. Despite her success, I would bet we have just begun to hear from her—for at least two reasons: her curiosity and her ability to laugh.