Loretta Di Franco

Loretta Di Franco is an American operatic soprano who is chiefly known for her more than 900 performances at the Metropolitan Opera from 1961-1995. Originally a member of the Met's opera chorus, she eventually was promoted to singing small comprimario roles beginning with one of the pages in Wagner's "Tannhäuser" and the peasant girl in "The Marriage of Figaro" in 1961. She went on to win the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1965 which led to her first substantial role, Chloe in "The Queen of Spades". She continued to appear annually at the Met for the next 30 years, performing both leading and supporting roles. Some of the parts she performed at the Met included Annina in "La traviata", both the Aunt and Barena in Janáček's "Jenůfa", Barbarina and Marcellina in "The Marriage of Figaro", Berta in "The Barber of Seville", Countess Ceprano in "Rigoletto", the Dew Fairy and the Sandman in "Hansel and Gretel", Feklusa in "Káťa Kabanová", the First Lady in "The Magic Flute", the Flower Seller in Britten's "Death in Venice", Frasquita in "Carmen", Gerhilde in "Die Walküre", Giannetta in "L'elisir d'amore", Helen in "Mourning Becomes Electra", Ines in "Il trovatore", Jouvenot in "Adriana Lecouvreur", Kate Pinkerton in "Madama Butterfly", Laura in "Luisa Miller", Lauretta in "Gianni Schichi", Lisa in "La sonnambula", Marianne in "Der Rosenkavalier", Marthe in "Faust", Musetta in "La bohème", Oscar in "Un ballo in maschera", Samaritana in "Francesca da Rimini", Woglinde in both "Das Rheingold" and "Götterdämmerung", Xenia in "Boris Godunov", Zerlina in "Don Giovanni", and title role in "Lucia di Lammermoor". In 1991 she created the role of the Woman with Child in the world premiere of John Corigliano's "The Ghosts of Versailles".