What is Anna Moffo?
[[File:Anna Moffo (Amsterdam, 1962).jpg|thumb|Anna Moffo]] '''Anna Moffo''' (June 27, 1932 - March 9, 2006) was an [[Italian American]] operatic [[soprano]] particularly associated with lyric-coloratura roles in Italian and French operas, she was admired as much for her vocal gifts as her great beauty and affecting stage presence. ==Life and Career== Born in Wayne, [[Pennsylvania]], to Italian parents, she first studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in [[Philadelphia]], with Eufemia Giannini-Gregory, and later at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in [[Rome]], [[Italy]], with Mercedes Llopart and Luigi Ricci. She made her operatic [[debut]] in Spoleto, Italy, in 1955, as Norina in [[Donizetti]]'s ''Don Pasquale''. Shortly after, she appeared in a television production of [[Puccini]]'s ''[[Madama Butterfly]]'', which made her an overnight sensation throughout Italy. She quickly appeared in other television productions (''[[Falstaff (opera)|Falstaff]]'', ''[[La sonnambula]]'', ''[[Lucia di Lammermoor]]'', ''[[La fille du regiment|La figlia del reggimento]]'', ''La serva padrona'') and was invited to sing at most of the major opera houses of Italy (Rome, [[Milan]], [[Naples]], [[Venice]], [[Parma]], etc.). As her reputation grew, she was invited to sing outside Italy, notably at the [[Aix-en-Provence]] Festival, the [[Salzburg]] Festival and the [[Vienna]] State Opera. She made her American debut at the [[Chicago]] Lyric Opera in 1957, as Mimi in ''[[La bohème]]'', opposite the great Swedish [[tenor]] Jussi Bjorling. Her [[Metropolitan Opera]] debut in New York took place on November 14, 1959, as Violetta in ''[[La traviata]]'', a part that quickly became her signature role. She sang at the Metropolitan Opera for seventeen seasons to great acclaim in roles such as Lucia (''Lucia di Lammermoor''), Gilda (''[[Rigoletto]]''), Mimi (''[[La bohème]]''), Marguerite (''[[Faust (opera)|Faust]]''), Juliet (''[[Romeo and Juliet]]''), Manon (''[[Manon]]''), the four heroines in ''[[Les contes d'Hoffmann]]'', etc. She also