Search - Anna Moffo :: Early Years 1956-60

Young Moffo is great!!!

V. Chau | San Diego, CA | 07/08/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This compilation is made up of recordings taken from several live performances from 1956-1960. Anna Moffo has a sweet, pleasant voice, although studio conditions probably show off her voice to better effect. Her coloratura is good, but a lot of it is quite careful. She has a real trill, but it is quite loose and sometimes barely maintained. I was struck by the utter sincerity of her singing. Her voice is remarkably free of any mannerisms, although she has an annoying habit of opening up the endings of notes so that the "o's" at the end of phrases sound like "a's". Her two arias from "La Sonnambula" are wonderfully sung. She sings "Ah! non credea mirarti" affectingly, unlike Renée Fleming who sings it affectedly. Her "Sul fin d'un soffio etesio" from "Falstaff" is a great recording. This is a live recording, which makes it even more special. In this aria, Moffo floats ethereal pianissimos that halt the listener's breath. Musetta's Waltz is sung with charm and saucy wit, a pleasure to hear. The Willow Song and the ensuing "Ave Maria" are given touching renditions by Moffo. She really touches the heart with her singing of Desdemona's double-aria finale. Her Desdemona is knowing and dignified, not the typical wilting flower that most other sopranos portray. The great Act 1 aria from "La Traviata" is given a good account, but I prefer Beverly Sills' version. The other arias are done well. The sound of this recording is quite good, but a few selections have noticeable static. Other selections are almost free of static. A few tracks develop static when Moffo hits a high note or a loud one. Track 11, the Donizetti aria, has some noises that seriously disrupt the music, especially near the end. Track 8, the Mozart aria, has some annoying clicking noises. To my ears, it sounds like Moffo screams her high notes. This recording is a lovely memento of the young Moffo. I have to comment on her spectacular beauty. In the thin booklet included with this release, several photos of Moffo are given. She looks gorgeous as Violetta and is a very pretty Amina and a convincingly youthful Marie. Joan Sutherland, who sang Marie very well, certainly did not look like a teenage girl. Moffo certainly does. The two photos that show her as Cio-cio San really do no justice to her beauty.The notes in the accompanying booklet say that Moffo did not possess a voice that was so distinctive as to become unforgettable upon first hearing. I have to strongly disagree with that statement. Moffo's voice is very distinctive and immediately identifiable."