Anna Moffo collection (MSS 62)
Scope and Contents
Memorabilia, programs, publicity materials, contracts, reviews, recordings, interviews, biographies, business and personal correspondence and documents, scrapbooks, degrees, honors, awards, and photographs collected and curated by coloratura soprano Anna Moffo (Voice '54) throughout her lifetime. Her operatic roles included:
Dates
- 1932 - circa 2005
Creator
- Moffo, Anna, 1932-2006 (Person)
Language of Materials
Predominantly English and Italian; also German and French
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research
Biographical / Historical
Born on 27 June 1932 in Wayne, PA, Anna Moffo was an accomplished athlete and excellent student at Radnor High School before winning a place at the Curtis Institute of Music to study voice in 1950. Following her 1954 graduation, she traveled to Italy on a Fulbright Scholarship, where, soon after, her operatic career took off after a televised appearance as Cio-Cio-San in Madame Butterfly. By the early 1960s Moffo had cemented her reputation as a leading lyric-coloratura soprano, performing at, among others, the Vienna State Opera, La Scala, Teatro di San Carlo, The Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Royal Opera House. Celebrated as much for her beauty as for her voice (she was christened “La Bellisima”), Moffo dominated the operatic stage for nearly a decade, particularly in her signature role as Violetta in La Traviata. However, a grueling opera schedule coupled with weekly appearances on her namesake variety show led, in 1968, to serious injury to her voice from which she never fully recovered. After formally retiring from singing in 1983, Moffo served as a board member on the Metropolitan Opera Guild and taught master classes around the world until her death in 2006 at age 73.
Extent
5.43 Linear feet
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
All audio recordings are on cassette
Immediate Source of Acquisition
From the estate of Nick Moffo
Processing Information
This collection is currently being processed. Please contact the archivist.
- Title
- Anna Moffo memorabilia (MSS 62)
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Kristina Wilson
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Archives Repository