Latonia
Moore is poised to claim her place on international stages, and when
she does, the opera world will discover what Philadelphia already knows.
After winning the Metropolitan Opera Auditions three years ago,
Moore turned down an invitation to join the Met's training program and
opted to enroll at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. For Moore,
the decision came down to a choice between "observing" and
"experiencing." "If you're going to make a career as a principal," she
explains, "you've got to perform leading roles."
At AVA, Moore has covered the soprano spectrum. Her luscious lyric
soprano, dramatic temperament and natural grace have left a bold imprint
on Mimi, Marguerite and the title role in Lucrezia Borgia, but some
wondered how Moore would fare outside AVA's intimate theater. That
question was answered last winter when she made her debut in Cosi Fan
Tutte with Opera Company of Philadelphia. Moore dominated the big stage
of the Academy of Music with her saucy, pert and knowing Despina.
Born under the sign of Cancer, Moore calls herself "unpredictable
and moody" and says she likes "unexpected changes, out of nowhere." She
got that as a jazz major at the University of North Texas, when a
teacher advised her to sing in the chorus of Pagliacci. She switched to
opera and quickly found herself singing Suor Angelica and Santuzza.
Puccini is providing Moore's international calling card. Winning a
competition in Dresden last year earned her a debut as Mimi at the
Semperoper in March. Moore also was offered Cio-Cio-San there in 2005
but decided to postpone that arduous role for a couple of years. "I want
to be ready when I sing Butterfly," notes the native of Houston, who
recently claimed the audience prize at Vienna's Belvedere Competition
with a melting performance of Fidelia's "Addio, addio, mio dolce ardor!"
from Puccini's Edgar. This month, she stars as Fidelia in concert
performances at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.
Latonia--"Think of lasagna when you pronounce my name"--doesn't
attend many performances, because too often she misses "the linked
energy" she felt between her colleagues in AVA's recent Faust. She
complains of "cookie-cutter, carbon-copy voices" and adds, "1 want
passion, anima, heart. I don't want to be sung at. I want to be drawn
into the emotions and feel the passions. This generation is going to
have to show their stuff, or the future is going to be pretty grim."
Source Citation
Baxter, Robert. "Sound bites." Opera News Jan. 2004: 12+. Fine Arts and Music Collection. Web. 30 Apr. 2012.
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