Nicola Moscona

Who was Nicola Moscona?

Nicolai Moscona was a Greek-born operatic bass. Born in Athens, he made his stage debut in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Greek National Opera in 1931, and went on to sing leading basso cantante roles both in Europe and the United States.

Moscona made his New York debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Ramfis in Aïda on December 13, 1937, and sang there until 1961, in a total of 485 performances. Among his roles with the company were indeed Ramfis, Lodovico in Otello, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Manon, Pimenn in Boris Godounov, Lothario in Mignon, Mephisto in Faust, Alvise in La Gioconda, Tom in Un ballo in maschera, the Old Hebrew in Samson et Dalila, Ferrando in Il trovatore, Titurel in Parsifal, Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Nilakantha in Lakmé, Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Padre Guardiano in La forza del destino, Fasolt in Das Rheingold, the Verdi Requiem, the Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Colline in La bohème, Arkel in Pelléas et Mélisande, Oroveso in Norma, Frère Laurent in Roméo et Juliette, King Heinrich in Lohengrin, Hunding in Die Walküre, and the Grand Inquisiteur in Don Carlos.