Anna Moffo

[Derek McGovern]

We're long overdue for a thread on one of the great lyric sopranos of
the 20th century: Anna Moffo (1932-2006). Has there ever been a more
sensuous soprano voice? And what bewitching phrasing!

Here are four of my all-time favourite (audio) Moffo recordings:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yrKWwQIOT4 Chi il Bel Sogno di Doretta
from Puccini's La Rondine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU8RwT8ODHA Vocalise (Rachmaninov) --
slower than most other soprano's versions, and in a class of its own.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJo_Y-S01sw Two songs of the Auvergne:
L'Antounèno" and "Baïlèro. The latter song, in which a young woman
seductively calls her lover from across a meadow, is sheer perfection.

.

[Tonytenor]

Derek,

What a wonderful subject! Anna Moffo - without a doubt my favorite
soprano of all time and the one soprano who, I believe, comes the
closest to the Italiante romantic vocal quality that Mario Lanza had.
Indeed there were and are many wonderful female vocalists but Anna
wins hands-down with me. Oh how glorious it would have been for RCA
to record Lanza and Moffo together. I cannot think of any other
soprano voice that would have blended so well with Mario's.

Derek, you mention four of my favourite recordings by Moffo. I would
also commend to all her RCA recording of MADAMA BUTTERFLY (A very
unique recording with the lyric tenor Cesare Valletti singing
Pinkerton and Rosalind Elias as Suzuki. Erich Leinsdorf is conducting
and I recall hearing an interview with him, many years ago, in which
he said the concept of this recording was to be intimate - thus his
subtle, reserved conducting and the interesting choice of Valletti for
Pinkerton). It is a wonderful recording and by far my favorite
BUTTERFLY.

Another disc of intrerest is the Angel/EMI release of the very young
Moffo. She sings Mussetta in Callas' LA BOHEME - interesting casting,
eh? This is a wonderful recording and we hear Anna Moffo early in her
career and the sound is glorious.

I could go on and on but I'll put a sock in it and let some others
have a go. Here is a very good site re: Anna Moffo
http://www.metoperafamily.org/operanews/news/pressrelease.aspx?id=1132

One last bit of Moffo trivia I'd like to share. Years ago when I was
studying with Wayne Conner in Philadelphia he told me of when he first
arrived at the Curtis Institute as a student. He was quite awed by
the whole thing and the capper was when the person at the reception
desk told him to wait as his guide was coming to get him and show him
around. Well his "guide" turned out to be Anna Moffo who, at that
time, was also a Curtis student. Wayne told me she was so beautiful,
so ravishingly beautiful and then when she sang he said it was beyond
description. I can only imagine....

On Nov 3, 3:50 am, Derek McGovern <derek.mcgov...@gmail.com> wrote:
> We're long overdue for a thread on one of the great lyric sopranos of
> the 20th century: Anna Moffo (1932-2006). Has there ever been a more
> sensuous soprano voice? And what bewitching phrasing!
>
> Here are four of my all-time favourite (audio) Moffo recordings:
>

> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yrKWwQIOT4Chi il Bel Sogno di Doretta

> from Puccini's La Rondine
>

> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU8RwT8ODHAVocalise (Rachmaninov) --

> slower than most other soprano's versions, and in a class of its own.
>

> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJo_Y-S01swTwo songs of the Auvergne:

[Vince Di Placido]

Oh! Anna! Anna! Anna! I love her!!! What a voice & what a beauty!
Derek I adore her "Baïlèro", it is just perfection from a stunning
album with Stokowski, a real classic!
I love Anna's "One Night of Love" album. Here are a few songs:

Irving Berlin's "Always"
http://www.4shared.com/file/146473157/fdd1b5aa/Always.html

Rodgers & Hammerstein's "If I Loved You"
http://www.4shared.com/file/146482035/7eabe983/If_I_loved_you.html

Franz Lehar's "Vilia"
http://www.4shared.com/file/146476380/e2417a18/Vilia.html

Beautiful singing!

[Tonytenor]

If the big shots at RCA / BMG or whatever name it's going by these
days, had any brains they would remaster and release (on CD) the
incredible album Anna recorded with Sergio Franchi, THE DREAM DUET.
It is so lovely and their voices blend beautifully. Most of the
selections, as those folks out there who have this wonderful recording
(dating back to 1963), are pieces that Lanza sang and recorded:
"Ah, Sweet Mystery Of Life," "Sweethearts," "Yours Is My Heart Alone,"
etc... But I must confess that my favorite song on the entire album
is "My Hero" from THE CHOCOLATE SOLDIER. I will try to post the mp3
when I get home from work.

Vince, I am with you! Anna's ONE NIGHT OF LOVE album is a treasure.
I love all of the selections but "Vilia" always gets me. As I
mentioned earlier, I think Anna Moffo had that mysterious Italiante
emotion in her voice. Listen to the way she sings the finale of
"Vilia" or the interpolated high notes she adds in her SONGS OF THE
AUVERGNE. Armando might be able to shed further light on this. It's
a quality in which the voice leans into and through the music. It is,
I think, a quality one cannot be taught.

Speaking of SONGS OF THE AUVERGNE, while I love what Anna Moffo does
with the few that are on her recording with Stokowski, I don't think
Anna's voice is quite right for these pastoral, lyric pieces. My
favorite recording of Canteloube's beautiful collection of songs is
the one on CBS Masterworks by mezzo-soprano Frederica Von Stade. She
brings such a girlish quality to these pieces and the orchestrations
are much truer to Canteloube as opposed to Stokowski who, great though
he was, felt compelled to rearrange (and to often, screw up) just
about everything he conducted and recorded. Please don't get me
wrong, I do love the man's work and enjoy great many of his
arrangements of classic pieces - his Bach transcriptions/arrangements
comes immediately to mind. But that is so unimportant when
considering the wonderful album he did with Moffo. The Rachmaninoff
"Vocalise" is ethereal.

By the way Vince, I believe it was Skitch Henderson who conducted
Moffo's ONE NIGHT OF LOVE album, wasn't it?

On Nov 4, 5:35 pm, Vince Di Placido <vincent.diplac...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[Vince Di Placido]

Yeah! Tony, Skitch Henderson was the conductor! I love that
arrangement of "Always" the instrumental bridge with piano & strings
is so effective!
"The Dream Duet" is a great album, their "Indian Love call" is very
good.

http://www.4shared.com/file/146531146/7180993/Indian_love_call.html

[Vince Di Placido]

I'm on a roll here, I have been listening to Anna all evening, pure
heaven! Here is a great Anna Moffo performance:

"Una voce poco fa" from "Il barbiere di Siviglia"
http://www.4shared.com/file/146533956/ba19a1e1/Una_voce_poco_fa_-_Il_Barbiere_di_Siviglia.html

[Vince Di Placido]

One more before I go to bed, Anna singing "Caro Nome" from "Rigoletto"
http://www.4shared.com/file/146537174/e75064a0/Caro_Nome_-_Rigoletto.html

[Tonytenor]

You are on a roll Vince and I am delighted to know you are as big a
Moffo fan as I am. Here's "My Hero."
http://www.4shared.com/file/146551772/a095175b/My_Hero.html


On Nov 4, 6:25 pm, Vince Di Placido <vincent.diplac...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> One more before I go to bed, Anna singing "Caro Nome" from "Rigoletto"http://www.4shared.com/file/146537174/e75064a0/Caro_Nome_-_Rigoletto....

[leeann]

I love those times when something happens and you're struck dumb by
the sheer unexpected wonder of it. Never happened to me before with a
soprano voice. Just quick thank you so much for this Anna Moffo
thread. Best, Lee Ann

[Derek McGovern]

On Nov 5, 12:53 pm, Tonytenor <tonyparting...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Speaking of SONGS OF THE AUVERGNE, while I love what Anna Moffo does
> with the few that are on her recording with Stokowski, I don't think
> Anna's voice is quite right for these pastoral, lyric pieces.  My
> favorite recording of Canteloube's beautiful collection of songs is
> the one on CBS Masterworks by mezzo-soprano Frederica Von Stade.  She
> brings such a girlish quality to these pieces and the orchestrations
> are much truer to Canteloube as opposed to Stokowski who, great though
> he was, felt compelled to rearrange (and to often, screw up) just
> about everything he conducted and recorded.

Hi Tony: I'm no Canteloube expert, but I love the arrangements on Anna
Moffo's Songs of the Auvergne album! I'm afraid Anna has spoiled me
here, as I heard her eight songs first, and subsequently I've never
been able to warm to either Von Stade's or Te Kanawa's versions. I
take your point about Federica Von Stade's "girlish quality" (although
Anna hardly sounds matronly by comparison :-)), but I find her voice
just a bit too plain.

I've always regarded Anna's Songs of the Auvergne disc as her finest
album. She was at her peak at the time (1964) and, for my money, she
and Stokowski achieve magic together. It's Moffo's equivalent to the
"Mario!" album! Along with the outstanding Baïlèro and Rachmaninov
Vocalise, the formidable Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 is an amazing
piece of singing (and music) -- and by far the best version I've ever
heard.

Incredibly, though, the album has been discontinued! However, one of
Amazon's Marketplace Sellers is selling it new (for $20). If anyone's
interested, they may want to grab it while it's still around at a not-
too-inflated price:

http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Canteloube-Villa-Lobos-Bachianas-Brasileiras/dp/B000003ERS/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1257408176&sr=1-8

Lee Ann: Great to hear that La Moffo made such an impression on you!
She's been called "the female Mario Lanza," and certainly the two
would have been dynamite together. It's such a shame that the planned
stereo remake of The Student Prince with Mario and Anna never
happened. John Coast mentions in one of his 1958 letters that the
recording was scheduled for the summer of that year, so presumably
Lanza's long stay in the Walchensee Sanitorium from June to August was
the reason it was postponed. Sadly, by the time Mario did get round to
making the album in April 1959, Norma Giusti had replaced Moffo.

[Derek McGovern]

I forgot to mention that the Songs of the Auvergne/Bachianas/Vocalise
album was Moffo's own favourite recording of herself. She told Lindsay
Perigo this when he interviewed her (at her home) in the 1980s.

[Tonytenor]

Hi Derek. Thanks for your your post re: Anna Moffo and her recordings
of SONGS OF THE AUVERGNE. I was first introduced to the Canteloube
work via Moffo as were you. I too have a special place in my heart
for this recording. You are quite right in that Moffo does not sound
matronly. I suppose it's a matter of taste. I've several recordings
of these pieces (Moffo, Von Stade, Te Kanawa, De Los Angels, Davrath)
and I guess I just like the quality of voice and orchestrations of the
Von Stade recording. As Far as the Rachmaninoff and Villa-Lobos, Anna
is number one IMO.

[Derek McGovern]

Our German-speaking members may want to check out this interview with
Anna Moffo on German TV:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQGCkRpvG_o

Anna looks terrific here at 58, and seems to have a pretty good grasp
of German (not that I speak the language!). Interestingly, she
mentions Lanza almost straightaway (in connection with other
Philadelphian-born operatic singers).

It's sad to think that her voice had long departed by this stage. Like
so many wonderful opera singers of the second half of the 20th century
(eg, Callas, Di Stefano, Carreras, Tebaldi), her vocal decline began
when she was only in her 30s. Still, what she accomplished in little
more than a decade -- like another great Philadelphian singer we all
know!! -- was pretty amazing.

[Mike McAdam]

Derek: time we had a Moffo thread? Too true.
Tony and Vince were on a real roll there and great songs they were,
albeit as a dial-up-dweeb I only downloaded one or two of them (I have
most in my collection).
I must download that Bachianas Whateverus :-) by this gal as I have
heard some great renderings of this piece from other sopranos but
never from Anna. Tks for that link.

Here's one of my favourites: 'Kiss Me Again'.
It's not the last note she hits...... "again!" but *how* she hits it.
Wow! This girl was magic and yes, she did possess that same visceral,
heart-tugging quality in her voice that Lanza had.
here's the link:

http://www.4shared.com/file/149586710/8bce5d10/KissMeAgain_AnnaMoffo.html

Cheers, Mike

On Nov 3, 5:50 am, Derek McGovern <derek.mcgov...@gmail.com> wrote:
> We're long overdue for a thread on one of the great lyric sopranos of
> the 20th century: Anna Moffo (1932-2006). Has there ever been a more
> sensuous soprano voice? And what bewitching phrasing!
>
> Here are four of my all-time favourite (audio) Moffo recordings:
>

> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yrKWwQIOT4Chi il Bel Sogno di Doretta

> from Puccini's La Rondine
>

> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU8RwT8ODHAVocalise (Rachmaninov) --

> slower than most other soprano's versions, and in a class of its own.
>

> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJo_Y-S01swTwo songs of the Auvergne:

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Mike: Anna's rendition of Kiss Me Again has always been one of my
favourite Moffo recordings. Actually, during her interview with
Lindsay Perigo, this recording came up in the conversation. He praised
her romantic approach, and she replied (laughing) to the effect that,
well, how else *could* she sing something like "Kiss me again"? But
she was really selling herself short, for how many other operatic
sopranos could achieve the magical, sensuous effect that she achieves
here?

Thanks for sharing that link, Mike. I hope other members take the time
to listen to it.

Cheers
Derek

On Nov 11, 4:59 pm, Mike McAdam <macadame...@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote:
> Derek: time we had a Moffo thread? Too true.
> Tony and Vince were on a real roll there and great songs they were,
> albeit as a dial-up-dweeb I only downloaded one or two of them (I have
> most in my collection).
> I must download that Bachianas Whateverus :-) by this gal as I have
> heard some great renderings of this piece from other sopranos but
> never from Anna. Tks for that link.
>
> Here's one of my favourites: 'Kiss Me Again'.
> It's not the last note she hits...... "again!" but *how* she hits it.
> Wow! This girl was magic and yes, she did possess that same visceral,
> heart-tugging quality in her voice that Lanza had.
> here's the link:
>

> http://www.4shared.com/file/149586710/8bce5d10/KissMeAgain_AnnaMoffo....

>
> Cheers, Mike
>
> On Nov 3, 5:50 am, Derek McGovern <derek.mcgov...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > We're long overdue for a thread on one of the great lyric sopranos of
> > the 20th century: Anna Moffo (1932-2006). Has there ever been a more
> > sensuous soprano voice? And what bewitching phrasing!
>
> > Here are four of my all-time favourite (audio) Moffo recordings:
>

> >http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yrKWwQIOT4Chiil Bel Sogno di Doretta

> > from Puccini's La Rondine
>

> >http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kU8RwT8ODHAVocalise(Rachmaninov) --

> > slower than most other soprano's versions, and in a class of its own.
>

> >http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJo_Y-S01swTwosongs of the Auvergne:

[Michael McAdam]

Whilst still trying to decide which soprano's La Traviata DVD to order (see 'La Traviata Follies' thread), I have been viewing/listening to all the YouTube clips of 'La Splendissima' in this opera. Naturally, I eventually drifted over to one of her other arias; this particular one from Il Travatore, "D'amor Sull'ali Rosee". I had never heard Anna tackle this Verdi aria (the listener comments intrigued me so I had to hit it). Clever LP video to accompany....just listen to this (again, for you long-time Moffo fans) :

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82hXQvG4pbI

 

Good golly, miss Molly! I sat stunned here at my PC for I don't know how long (that gal could make a stone weep!). At times she sounded like a tremelo flute or the trill of a songbird in a forest. What a God-given, velvet voice she had and, what emotion, involvement and range. How can a woman with such a ravishing and unique timbre ALSO manage to be so achingly beautiful? My lord, I've forgotten Angela and fallen back in love with Anna! ;-)

M.

[Savage]

Mike,
Thanks for the link to that glorious performance. Velvet is absolutely the perfect word to use in reference to that matchless voice After hearing it I can't help conjuring up a Parigi O Cara duet with Anna and Mario in my head. Those two voices blend so well as you know.

David

[Derek McGovern]

A friend just sent me the link to this Anna Moffo/Franco Ferrara collaboration of Verdi arias, recorded in 1962:

http://www.amazon.com/Verdi-Collaboration-Anna-Moffo/dp/B00CN1FJLO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1382351683&sr=8-1&keywords=moffo

I had no idea Moffo had made an album with the great Ferrara! Vince, or any other Moffo admirers here: do you happen to have this CD, and if so, is it as good as its Amazon reviewers insist it is?

Thanks,

Derek

[Vincent Di Placido]

Hi, Derek! I knew of this album, I had seen the cover art (wasn't Anna so beautiful), but I have just downloaded it from itunes & I am listening to it as I am typing this, it's making for a wonderful afternoon off work :-)

It's a beautiful album, Anna's singing is glorious, the Otello Ave Maria especially impressed me, I've heard this piece from all the top sopranos as it is one of my favourite Verdi scenes & I have to say I think Anna's is now my favourite. The inherited & deserved goodwill I already have for Anna & Franco Ferrara made me super responsive to whatever they were going to give me today but it is a great album.

Oh! How I wish Mario had worked with Ferrara more & an operatic album would have been fantastic!

[Vincent Di Placido]

Oh! My! I could listen to Anna Moffo all day...

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Vince: I've just placed an order with amazon on the strength of your comments! I'm sure I won't be disappointed. You can't go wrong with early 1960s Anna!

Thinking of an album of prime Moffo winging its way towards me does make me sad in one respect, though: my father, who (as you know) died six months ago, will never get to hear it. He simply adored her voice---she was his female Lanza---and I even played two of her recordings (Bailero and l'Aio de Rotso) at his funeral during a photo montage of his life. (Mario got a look in too, of course: I played his Student Prince Serenade.) I'm sure he would have been excited to hear about this CD.

Incidentally, did you read the comments on Amazon from someone claiming that it wasn't Moffo's technique that caused her later vocal problems; it was severe back pain! 

I agree that Ferrara would have been a logical choice for conductor of a Lanza operatic album. Here was an outstanding musician who greatly admired Mario's voice and musicality, and the two men were obviously in complete sync artistically on their one album together; how could an operatic collaboration have failed?! But RCA had different plans, it seems :(

[Vincent Di Placido]

I dug out some Anna Moffo dvds & uploaded a few clips this evening...

 

Anna Moffo 1st act La Boheme 1961 colour Richard Tucker - http://youtu.be/L0E0Pfi8ZGw

Anna Moffo 1st act La Boheme 1963 Richard Tucker - http://youtu.be/CgN6BbfOz7E

Anna Moffo La Ci Darem La Mano George London 1962 colour - http://youtu.be/vSSHmtw82t8

Anna Moffo La Traviata Sempre Libera! 1962 colour - http://youtu.be/mgTKTWzg6Fc

Anna Moffo La Traviata Pura Siccome un Angelo - http://youtu.be/oa--QU3cZQg

Anna Moffo Libiamo Un di Felice Nicolai Gedda 1962 colour - http://youtu.be/ntbngbTpJU4

Anna Moffo Romeo et Juliet Helas! Moi, Le Hair! Sandor Konya - http://youtu.be/bRLUapTApZ

 

[Vincent Di Placido]

Hello, everybody!

Here is a wee treat for all you Anna Moffo fans, I have been trying to source her 1965 album, "One Night of Love" in stereo for quite a while (it has never been released on cd) & I finally got it & here are links to all the tracks in gorgeous stereophonic sound... Enjoy!

 

http://www.4shared.com/music/lCHLcbdu/01_One_Night_of_Love.html

http://www.4shared.com/music/r-ofx4Aj/02_Lover.html

http://www.4shared.com/music/Oga1G4Ml/03_If_I_Loved_You.html

http://www.4shared.com/music/LxCkIpm8/04_Italian_Street_Song.html

http://www.4shared.com/music/KWJRtHuy/05_Kiss_Me_Again.html

http://www.4shared.com/music/LpjIKkIS/06_Vilia.html

http://www.4shared.com/music/nf8Ioxc3/07_Falling_in_Love_with_Love.html

http://www.4shared.com/music/Njycjo6L/08_Stars_in_My_Eyes.html

http://www.4shared.com/music/rkQhMIlT/09_Strange_Music.html

http://www.4shared.com/music/QAuXh9vv/10_Ill_See_You_Again.html

http://www.4shared.com/music/SiiGaQHJ/11_Love_is_Where_You_Find_It.html

http://www.4shared.com/music/WgiF9zXI/12_Always.html

[Derek McGovern]

Thanks so much for sharing those links, Vince. If there's a more beautiful, sensuous lyric soprano voice than Anna Moffo's---especially as heard on "One Night of Love," "Vilia," "Always," and "Kiss Me Again"---then I've yet to hear it!

I can't understand why this album hasn't been released on an official CD, especially when there are other (later) less successful recordings of Moffo's in the marketplace. She's in her prime here, her singing is glorious, the arrangements (mostly) tasteful, and the majority of the songs suit her perfectly. (I have to admit, though, that I can never listen to "Love Is Where You Find It"---I think Kathryn Grayson's rendition put me off the song permanently :))

Cheers

Derek 

[leeann]

Vince, thank you so much for making these tracks available. I don't often listen to soprano voices (I'm not proud of that--it's just the way my ear responds), but Anna Moff's is gorgeous; there's so much depth. So many of the songs here which could seem quite dated (Vilia, maybe?), don't because of her beautiful voice and expression. Lee Ann

[Derek McGovern]

I've just been listening to the Anna Moffo/Franco Ferrara album A Verdi Collaboration---and what a glorious partnership it is! 

Anna Moffo is at her absolute peak here at the age of 30: both beguiling and technically secure, with perfect high notes (the one at the end of the Otello "Ave Maria" is a stunner) and perfect control. There are no hints at all of her later vocal troubles. And that timbre! Truly one of the most beautiful of all soprano voices.

The Otello "Ave Maria" and the Willow Song that precedes it could hardly be better; Vince was right! But the entire album is a joy. What is it about conductor Franco Ferrara that make his collaborations with great singers so special?! Nice to see him getting praise in George Marek's liner notes too: "Franco Ferrara is a conductor who is virtually unknown to the public. But mention him to any musician in Italy and several in America---and they open their eyes wide."  I love his work here---which is very much a partnership every step of the way---and I wonder if the orchestra (RCA Italiana) is much the same as the one he conducted four years earlier on the Mario! album. (It's described as a symphony orchestra, so it could be a somewhat larger version.) 

While it's true that not all of this repertoire would have suited Moffo on the stage, that doesn't bother me any more than the fact that Lanza wasn't yet ready (at 34) to sing Otello in the opera house when he recorded (so brilliantly) the Monologue from that work.

Terrific atmospheric sound on this 1962 Italian recording---oh why couldn't Caruso Favorites have been recorded like this?!---apart the occasional (very) high note that challenges the technology of the time. But the fact that it was released this year on Sony's Classical Singers label gives me hope that Caruso Favorites could at last be properly remastered and reissued.    

Highly recommended! 

[Vincent Di Placido]

Hi, Derek! I'm so glad you enjoyed this album, it really is fantastic isn't it!? I've listened to it several times over the last couple of weeks. I especially enjoy "D'amor sull'ali rosee" from Il Trovatore, Anna is just a dream to listen to, what a great voice & artist. On top of all this look at that photo on the cover, what a beautiful & styish woman she was. 

 

[Derek McGovern]

There's a very interesting (and quite touching) essay on Anna Moffo in Albert Innaurato's music blog:

http://mrsjohnclaggartssadlife.blogspot.co.nz/2014/05/anna-moffo.html

This essay offers the best analysis I've read of what caused the great Moffo's early vocal decline.

[Armando]

Ciao Derek: Excellent article by the not always reliable Innaurato. Moffo’s career is the evidence of the perils of what the pressure of performing, coupled with a not completely finished technique, can do to a voice. Regardless, Moffo had a beautiful lyric voice and, at her best, her singing was exquisite.