Watching on youtube Anna Moffo–enchanting in voice, face, figure, presentation–at the Bing farewell gala in 1972–astonishing vocalism considering that her vocal travails had already begun.
And when she’s finished the Gavotte from Manon–the applause reminds me of the sound you once heard at the Met: an engaged, informed, passionate audience. The applause builds, it doesn’t fade quickly, and she in fact cannily and diplomatically leaves the stage while it’s at it’s crest and before she could be accused of milking it.
Nowadays you hear a different kind of applause–often wildly enthusiastic, but certainly exhibiting an enthusiasm born of credulity born of inexperience with the art form And certainly there’s nothing wrong with being a newcomer, or an occasional visitor to the opera. We NEED more newcomers to the opera. But today’s kind of applause–and the instant, inevitable standing ovations and then leave quickly when it’s over syndrome–is a sign of the art form’s increasing marginalization over the last forty years.
Can you imagine, in 1972, a NYC mayor saying he didn’t like the New York City Opera’s business plan and so he was going to let it close?