Mezzo-soprano; born in New York City. She made her concert debut as a soprano in Brooklyn in 1942 and her operatic debut that year in New York; her first Metropolitan Opera appearance came in 1944. After a successful decade of singing internationally, she began doing mezzo-soprano roles in 1955, with comparable success. While performing into the 1970s, she also began directing opera in 1971. Her 1982 documentary film, The Historic Ghetto of Venice, won a prize in Italy.