Nicola Moscona

Nicola Moscona (September 23, 1907 – September 17, 1975) was a Greek-born operatic bass who performed on both the operatic stage and Broadway. A native of Athens, he made his professional debut in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Greek National Opera in 1931, launching a career that would take him to major opera houses across Europe and the United States, including the Teatro alla Scala.

Moscona arrived at the Metropolitan Opera on December 13, 1937, making his New York debut as Ramfis in Aïda. He remained with the company until 1961, accumulating 719 performances across an extensive repertoire of basso cantante roles. His Met credits encompassed a wide range of operatic literature, including Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Colline in La bohème, Lodovico in Otello, Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Mephisto in Faust, Arkel in Pelléas et Mélisande, Oroveso in Norma, Hunding in Die Walküre, King Heinrich in Lohengrin, Titurel in Parsifal, Fasolt in Das Rheingold, Padre Guardiano in La forza del destino, Alvise in La Gioconda, Nilakantha in Lakmé, Pimenn in Boris Godunov, Lothario in Mignon, Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette, Ferrando in Il trovatore, the Old Hebrew in Samson et Dalila, Tom and Samuel in Un ballo in maschera, and the Grand Inquisiteur in Don Carlos. His final appearance with the Met was in Lucia di Lammermoor, opposite Dame Joan Sutherland.

Among the distinguished colleagues with whom Moscona shared the Met stage were Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi, Zinka Milanov, Lily Pons, Kirsten Flagstad, Helen Traubel, Risë Stevens, Bidu Sayão, Lauritz Melchior, Ezio Pinza, Giovanni Martinelli, Ramón Vinay, Mario del Monaco, Lawrence Tibbett, Leonard Warren, Jan Peerce, Jussi Björling, Richard Tucker, and Giuseppe di Stefano, among many others. Conductors under whom he performed at the Met included Erich Leinsdorf and George Szell, and productions included a staging of Don Giovanni directed by Herbert Graf.

Moscona also worked extensively with Arturo Toscanini, participating in concert versions of four operas that were subsequently released by RCA Victor: Fidelio in 1944, in which he sang Don Fernando alongside Rose Bampton, Jan Peerce, and Eleanor Steber; La bohème in 1946, with Licia Albanese and Peerce; Otello in 1947, as Lodovico, with Herva Nelli, Vinay, and Giuseppe Valdengo; and Un ballo in maschera in 1954, as Samuel, with Nelli, Peerce, and Robert Merrill. His commercial recording discography includes a 1947 La bohème with Sayão and Tucker, and a 1952 Il trovatore opposite Björling, Milanov, Fedora Barbieri, and Warren, conducted by Renato Cellini.

In 1954, Moscona appeared on Broadway in Fanny, bringing his operatic background to the musical stage. Beyond the concert hall and theater, he appeared in the 1951 American film The Great Caruso, starring Mario Lanza, and later starred in the 1963 Greek film O Asotos, known in English as The Prodigal Son.

Moscona became a United States citizen in 1945. Following his retirement from performing, he joined the faculty of the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. He died in Philadelphia on September 17, 1975, six days before what would have been his sixty-eighth birthday.