Met soprano dies, 82
RIPThe soprano Loretta Di Franco Pinto, who sang 929 times at the Metropolitan Opera from 1961 to 1995, has died at the age of 82.
She lit up the stage, generally in secondary roles, although she did once earn the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor. Her farewell performance in 1995 was as Woman with Child in John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles, a role she created four years earlier in its world premiere.
She then continued working at the Met as a language coach. This joyous picture was taken there just 11 months ago.
Lauretta Di Franco actually sang quite a few leading roles at the Met, sometimes but not always in ‘student performances’: Zerlina, Oscar, Musetta, Lauretta and more. She was a treasurable Marcellina and Berta, really singing well roles often guyed. I met her once: a true professional and very kind.
Could you please clarify the meaning of your last sentence, in which you refer to her performances being “guyed”?
For males in that role.
She was a mainstay on the Met’s annual spring tour. Always available to the tour’s sponsors and to the media. A true artist.
Loretta and I were colleagues at The Met for many decades. She
was a dedicated and talented artist who always put her colleagues first. She loved performing and made her interpretations look and sound effortless. Loretta was a loving wife and mother. Her later years as an outstanding diction coach —were proof positive of just how much one is capable of accomplishing in a lifetime. Rest in peace…shining
Loretta.