Famous examples include Zinka Milanov, Maria Callas, Leontyne Price, Anna Moffo, Carlo Bergonzi, Franco Corelli, and Renata Scotto.

Other celebrated singers who debuted at the Met during Bing's tenure include: Maria Callas, who had a bitter falling out with Bing over repertoire, Renata Tebaldi, Joan Sutherland, Montserrat Caballé, Birgit Nilsson, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Anna Moffo, Carlo Bergonzi, Franco Corelli, Placido Domingo, Nicolai Gedda, Luciano Pavarotti, Jon Vickers, Sherrill Milnes, and Cesare Siepi.

* 1965-Donizetti-Lucia di Lammermoor-Anna Moffo, Carlo Bergonzi, Mario Sereni, Ezio Flagello-The RCA Italiana Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Georges Prêtre.

During her career at the Met, Chookasian sang with many great singers like Carlo Bergonzi, Richard Cassilly, Franco Corelli, Phyllis Curtin, Mattiwilda Dobbs, William Dooley, Plácido Domingo, Reri Grist, Anna Moffo, Birgit Nilsson, Leontyne Price, Gail Robinson, Leonie Rysanek, Joan Sutherland, Renata Tebaldi, and Richard Tucker among others.

* 1965-Gluck-Orfeo ed Euridice-Shirley Verrett, Anna Moffo, Judith Raskin-Polyphonic Chorus of Rome, I Virtuosi di Roma, Renato Fasano.

* 1961-Puccini-La bohème-Anna Moffo, Richard Tucker, Mary Costa, Robert Merrill, Giorgio Tozzi, Philip Maero-Rome Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf.

* 1963-Verdi-Rigoletto-Robert Merrill, Anna Moffo, Alfredo Kraus, Rosalind Elias, Ezio Flagello-The RCA Italiana Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Georg Solti.

* 1963-Puccini-Manon Lescaut ( Highlights )-Anna Moffo, Flaviano Labò, Robert Kerns-The RCA Italiana Opera Orchestra and Chorus, René Leibowitz.

* 1963-Massenet-Manon ( Highlights )-Anna Moffo, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Robert Kerns-The RCA Italiana Opera Orchestra and Chorus, René Leibowitz.

* 1966-Puccini-La Rondine-Anna Moffo, Daniele Barioni, Graziella Sciutti, Piero de Palma, Mario Sereni-The RCA Italiana Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli.

* Massenet: Thaïs ( Moffo, Carreras, Bacquier, Díaz ; 1974 ) RCA

* Massenet & Puccini: A Portrait of Manon-Anna Moffo, Giuseppe di Stefano, Flaviano Labo, Robert Kerns-RCA Italiana Opera Chorus and Orchestra, cond.

Moffo returned to America for her debut there, as Mimì in La Bohème next to Jussi Björling's Rodolfo, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago on October 16, 1957.

Moffo was also invited at the San Francisco Opera where she made her debut as Amina on October 1, 1960.

After retiring from singing Moffo remained active in the opera community as a Board Member of the Metropolitan Opera Guild and by hosting several tributes and giving occasional masterclasses.

* 1957-Puccini-Madama Butterfly-Anna Moffo, Cesare Valletti, Rosalind Elias, Renato Cesari-Rome Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Erich Leinsdorf.

* 1960-Verdi-La traviata-Anna Moffo, Richard Tucker, Robert Merrill-Rome Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Fernando Previtali.

* 1974-Massenet-Thais-Anna Moffo, Gabriel Bacquier, José Carreras-Ambrosian Opera Chorus, New Philarmonia Orchestra, Julius Rudel.

* 1976-Montemezzi-L ' Amore dei tre re-Anna Moffo, Plácido Domingo, Pablo Elvira, Cesare Siepi-Ambrosian Opera Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Nello Santi.

While he was there he met Metropolitan Opera star, Anna Moffo, with whom he was to collaborate on two albums that year.

* 1962-Pergolesi-La serva padrona-Anna Moffo, Paolo Montarsolo-Rome Philharmonic Orchestra, Franco Ferrara

* June 27 – Anna Moffo, American soprano ( d. 2006 )

The first Manon was Marie Heilbron ; other noted interpreters include Sybil Sanderson ( Massenet's personal favorite ), Fanny Heldy, Lucrezia Bori, Bidu Sayao, Victoria de los Ángeles, Anna Moffo, Beverly Sills, Edita Gruberova, Renée Fleming, Anna Netrebko, and Natalie Dessay.

Modern interpreters have included Carol Neblett, Anna Moffo, Beverly Sills, Leontyne Price and, most recently, Renée Fleming.

Anna Moffo also chose the Lyric for her American debut.

Anna Moffo ( June 27, 1932 – March 9, 2006 ) was an Italian-American opera singer and one of the leading lyric-coloratura sopranos of her generation.

She was born in Wayne, Pennsylvania to Italian parents, Nicola Moffo ( a shoemaker ) and his wife Regina Cinti.

Moffo made her official operatic debut in 1955 in Spoleto as Norina in Don Pasquale.

The telecast aired on January 24, 1956, and made Moffo an overnight sensation throughout Italy.

The grave of Anna Moffo Sarnoff in Kensico CemeteryMoffo remained particularly popular in Italy and performed there regularly.

She hosted a program on Italian television " The Anna Moffo Show " ( two series: the first in 1964 ; the second in 1967 ) and was voted one of the ten most beautiful women in Italy.

Moffo was married twice, first to stage and film director Mario Lanfranchi, on December 8, 1957.

Anna Moffo spent the last years of her life in New York City, where she died of a stroke at age 73, following a decade-long battle with breast cancer.

* Carlo Bergonzi

* August 7 – Carlo Bergonzi makes his professional debut as Schaunard in La Bohème at the Arena Argentina in Catania.

He soon established himself as one of a quartet of Italian tenor superstars who reached the peak of their fame in the 1950s and ' 60s, the others being Giuseppe Di Stefano, Carlo Bergonzi and Franco Corelli.

* Madama Butterfly ( Giacomo Puccini ): Tullio Serafin conducting the Orchestra dell ' Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, with Carlo Bergonzi, Fiorenza Cossotto, Enzo Sordello.

* La Bohème ( Giacomo Puccini ): Tullio Serafin conducting the Orchestra dell ' Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, with Carlo Bergonzi, Gianna D ' Angelo, Ettore Bastianini.

* Aida ( Giuseppe Verdi ): Herbert von Karajan conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, with Carlo Bergonzi, Giulietta Simionato, Cornell McNeil.

His other published complete opera recordings included La traviata with Rosanna Carteri, Cesare Valletti, and conductor Pierre Monteux, Pagliacci with Victoria de los Ángeles, Jussi Björling and Robert Merrill ; Tosca, Aida, and Il trovatore, each with Zinka Milanov and Jussi Björling ; a second recording of Il trovatore with his friend and final tenor co-star, Richard Tucker, featuring a young Leontyne Price in her Met debut role of Leonora ; and Verdi's Macbeth, with Leonie Rysanek and Carlo Bergonzi.

Her 1966 recording of Madama Butterfly with Carlo Bergonzi and Rolando Panerai, under Barbirolli for EMI is frequently referred to as definitive.

Other important commercial recordings include Rigoletto with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Carlo Bergonzi under Rafael Kubelík, Turandot with Birgit Nilsson and Franco Corelli under Francesco Molinari-Pradelli, I Pagliacci with José Carreras, Cavalleria rusticana with Plácido Domingo, Norma with Tatiana Troyanos, Otello ( Verdi's ), Adriana Lecouvreur and Andrea Chénier.

His recordings of Verdi's Rigoletto ( alongside Renata Scotto and Carlo Bergonzi ) and Rodrigo in Verdi's Don Carlos, are probably the most respected of these ventures.

* Verdi, Rigoletto with Renata Scotto, Carlo Bergonzi, Rafael Kubelík and the La Scala Orchestra on the Deutsche Grammophon label

Carlo Bergonzi ( born 13 July 1924 ) is an Italian operatic tenor.

She sang with many famous colleagues including tenors Beniamino Gigli, Mario Filippeschi, Ferruccio Tagliavini, Carlo Bergonzi, Nicolai Gedda, Alfredo Kraus, Jon Vickers, Luciano Pavarotti, and Plácido Domingo, mezzo sopranos Giulietta Simionato, Fedora Barbieri, Shirley Verrett, Lili Chookasian, Grace Bumbry, baritones Gino Bechi, Tito Gobbi.

In 2005 the Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation ( http :// www. gyllenbergs. fi / en /) bought a violin from Mr Berglund, which was built in 1732 by Carlo Bergonzi ( 1683-1747 ).

Lifetime Achievement – Carlo Bergonzi

Many prominent singers have served in the jury, including Carlo Bergonzi, Geraint Evans, Marilyn Horne, Gundula Janowitz, Sherrill Milnes, Christoph Prégardien, Dame Joan Sutherland, Dame Anne Evans, René Kollo, Galina Vishnevskaya and Dame Gwyneth Jones.

From around 1715 he was assisted by his sons, and probably Carlo Bergonzi.

** Carlo Bergonzi

Milanov, Carlo Bergonzi, Frank Guarrera, Giorgio Tozzi, Dimitri Mitropoulos ; Metropolitan Opera

Nonetheless, di Stefano still managed to enjoy a significant operatic career, despite facing stiff competition during the 1950s and ' 60s from such outstanding fellow tenors as Mario del Monaco, Franco Corelli, Carlo Bergonzi, Nicolai Gedda, Jon Vickers, Richard Tucker and, prior to 1960, the short-lived Jussi Björling.