Margaret R. Ludwick

Margaret Roggero Ludwick, a mezzo-soprano with a warm, supple voice and exceptional musicality who sang nearly 600 performances with the Metropolitan Opera Company, died Nov. 10 in Deerfield Beach, FL, at the age of 93. Mrs. Ludwick, a Florida resident since 1984, had been in declining health for several months.

During her 13-year career at the Met, which began in 1950, Mrs. Ludwick sang a wide variety of roles with some of the 20th century’s greatest vocal artists and conductors. She was especially valued for her interpretation of Suzuki, the loyal servant in Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly.” In Irving Kolodin’s “The History of the Metropolitan Opera,” Mrs. Ludwick’s Suzuki was described as “practically perfect.”

Mrs. Ludwick, the daughter of Italian immigrants, was born Aug. 4, 1918 in Manhattan. Her father was a chef, her mother a seamstress. The family soon moved to the Bronx, where Mrs. Ludwick began to sing opera arias around the age of 10, accompanied at the piano by her sister. She earned a degree in Romance languages at Hunter College, then studied voice at the Juilliard School on scholarship, while also holding a job as a secretary for a Wall Street firm.

In 1949, Mrs. Ludwick was on Broadway performing the role of the Secretary in the Gian Carlo Menotti’s “The Consul.” One afternoon, in her makeup and costume, she rushed to the Met for an audition and made it back to the theater in time for her matinee performance of “The Consul.” Two days later, the Met offered her a contract.

In addition to her Met career, Mrs. Ludwick appeared with opera companies in San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia and other cities. She also gave concerts throughout the country. Her singing is preserved on several opera recordings, including “Il Trovatore,” “Cavalleria Rusticana,” “The Barber of Seville” and “Carmen” for RCA, and “Faust” for Columbia. She was most proud of her contribution as mezzo soloist in the 1953 RCA recording of Berlioz’ “Romeo and Juliet” with the Boston Symphony, conducted by Charles Munch.

In 1947, Mrs. Ludwick married Albert V. Ludwick, an accountant, who died in 1987. She later served as a volunteer in the Intensive Care Unit at Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale. She is survived by her two sons, Andrew Ludwick and his wife Elizabeth of Henrietta, New York, and Jonathan Ludwick and his wife Bethany of Boothbay, Maine.

A viewing will be held 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Kraeer Funeral Home, 200 N. Federal Highway, Pompano Beach. A funeral Mass will be offered at 12 p.m. Thursday at St. Paul the Apostle, 2700 NE 36th St., Pompano Beach.