Muriel Costa-Greenspon, City Opera Mezzo for 30 Years -- Rest in Peace

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Subject: Muriel Costa-Greenspon, City Opera Mezzo for 30 Years

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Dead at 68

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Date Posted: January 08, 2006 1:39:37 EDT

Muriel Costa-Greenspon, a mezzo-soprano who was a fixture at the New York City Opera for 30 years, died on Dec. 26 at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan. She was 68.

Her death was due to natural causes, said her son, Stefano Costa.

A reliable character mezzo, Ms. Costa-Greenspon consistently won critical praise for her musicianship, singing and acting. After making her City Opera debut as Olga Olsen in Kurt Weill's "Street Scene" in 1963, she went on to sing everything from Augusta in Douglas Moore's "Ballad of Baby Doe" to the three mezzo roles in Puccini's "Trittico" to the Old Lady in Leonard Bernstein's "Candide."

She had a particular association with the composer Gian Carlo Menotti. She made her professional debut in his "Old Maid and the Thief" and later sang the title role in his "Medium" at the Festival of Two Worlds (which Mr. Menotti founded), in Spoleto, Italy, among other places. At City Opera, her Menotti roles included parts in "The Consul" and "The Saint of Bleecker Street."

Muriel Greenspon was born in Detroit in 1937 to deaf parents. She received her B.A. and M.A. from the University of Michigan, and began her opera career singing arias in a restaurant.

Her husband, Giorgio Costa, a carpenter at the Metropolitan Opera and on various Broadway shows, also survives her. In 1984, the two enjoyed a burst of fame when Ms. Costa-Greenspon won $1.7 million in the New York State Lotto game.

Neither quit their day jobs. Ms. Costa-Greenspon continued to appear at City Opera until 1993. She then volunteered in the musical theater program at the Bronx High School of Science, helping to stage student shows.

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