Zinka Milanov (1906 - 1989) In Recital

Note by Alan Bilgora











"Zinka Milanov as Aida ... turned phrases so eloquently that they became not merely acceptable musical phrases, but heart- storming expressions of emotion"

Cecil Smith reporting on Milanov’s debut in Chicago, 1940

For many years one of the richest opera houses in the world, The Metropolitan Opera could afford to contract some of the greatest voices ever to be heard in any theatre. One such voice was that of Zinka Milanov. She was born Zinka Kunc on 17 May 1906 in Zagreb, Croatia. The family was musical; her brother Borislav became a distinguished pianist and composer. Zinka showed her prodigious talent at a very early age and studied initially at the Zagreb Academy with Milka Ternina (1863-1941) a legendary soprano active at the turn of the 20th Century. After further studies in Prague with Maria Kostrencic, and later in Milan with Fernando Carpi, an eminent Italian tenor, she made her debut in 1927 in Ljubljana singing Il Trovatore.

From 1928-35 she appeared in leading roles at the Zagreb Opera (singing in Serbo-Croat) and as a guest artist in Hamburg, Dresden and Prague. There, in the summer of 1937, this still virtually un-known soprano was heard by the Metropolitan’s Manager, Edward Johnson, his assistant Edward Ziegler, and the conductor Artur Bodzansky. In the same year the conductor Bruno Walter heard her deputising in Aida at the Vienna Opera. He introduced her to Arturo Toscanini who engaged her for a Verdi Requiem in Salzburg. At this time she adopted her husband’s name, and, having attracted the attention of such musical luminaries, made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York, as Zinka Milanov, singing Leonora in Il Trovatore on 17 December 1937. The distinguished American tenor Frederick Jagel was Manrico, with Carlo Tagliabue as di Luna and Bruna Castagna as Azucena.

Her next appearance was at one of the famous Sunday night concerts where she sang ‘Ritorna Vincitor’ from Aida and the ‘Suicidio’ from La Gioconda. Thus began a career which, with the exception of the years 1941-42 and 1947-50, saw 24 seasons at America’s most prestigious opera house. As well as Leonora in Il Trovatore her roles in the Italian dramatic repertory included Aida, Gioconda, Amelia (Ballo in Maschera) and Santuzza. She sang Leonora (Forza del Destino) in the revival in 1943, with Kurt Baum, Lawrence Tibbett, and Ezio Pinza in the cast. Oscar Thompson of the New York Sun wrote that "her smooth singing of ‘Pace, pace, mio Dio!’ was to be praised". Her roles also included Norma, Maddalena (Andrea Chénier) Tosca, Elvira (Ernani) Desdemona and Amelia (Simone Boccanegra). She was admired as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and during her long career appeared also as Reiza in Weber’s Oberon. Milanov completed over 420 performances with the company in New York and on their nation wide tours, all with colleagues of the highest calibre.

Her successes led to engagements at the Chicago Opera, where she made her debut on 2 November 1940 in Aida, with Giovanni Martinelli as Radames, John Charles Thomas (one of America’s favourite baritones) as Amonasro, and Karen Branzell as Amneris. Over the next few seasons the ‘Windy City’ was also treated to her singing of Leonora in Il Trovatore and the title role in La Gioconda. In 1940 she made her debut at the Teatro Colon Buenos Aires, appearing there over the next two seasons with casts of international repute. She was admired in her most popular roles also undertaking for the first time Reiza in Oberon. On 11 October 1943 she made her debut with the San Francisco Opera as Leonora in La Forza del Destino during what was to be her only season with the company, during which she was also heard as Leonora in Il Trovatore and as DonnaAnna in Don Giovanni. That she made so few appearances there was obviously much regretted, as Arthur Broomfield in his book ‘50 Years of the San Francisco Opera’ commented, "there were times in the years following, that her luxuriant tones would have bolstered the dramatic soprano wing".

In 1947 she briefly returned to her homeland, making a few appearances, and on her return to the United States was kept very busy with the Metropolitan schedule. In February 1950 she made her successful debut at La Scala Milan in Tosca, billed as Zinka Milanova, with Roberto Turrini as Cavaradossi and Giuseppe Taddei as Scarpia. During 1951 she appeared in Don Giovanni and on 16 November in a new Met production of Andrea Chénier. The title role was sung by Mario Del Monaco and the Gérard by the Met’s principal baritone Leonard Warren. Olin Downes of the New York Times wrote "it maybe said, in all seriousness, that for nobility of expression and complete mastery of every phrase of the singer’s art, her plea to Gérard in Act III was the consummate artistic achievement of the evening".

Milanov had caused a sensation in 1938 when she appeared in London singing Verdi’s Requiem under Toscanini, and she returned with him in 1939 to sing Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. But British audiences had to wait until 11 July 1956 for her operatic debut in Tosca with Feruccio Tagliavini as Cavaradossi and Scipio Columbo as Scarpia. The press acknowledged her great American career, but went on to welcome her to London as the then Yugoslavian President, Marshal Tito’s favourite soprano! According to Harold Rosenthal’s Two Centuries of Opera at Covent Garden "she gave a display of singing and acting in the grand style, and her beautiful voice, warm and expressive, was heard to fine effect".

She returned to Covent Garden on 13 June 1957 in Il Trovotore partnered first by Irish tenor James Johnston (singing in English!) due to the indisposition of Kurt Baum, and Jess Walters, the American baritone, who was for a number of years a member of the Covent Garden company. She appeared in Tosca on 16 June, but had to contend with the audience’s wildly enthusiastic response to the twin house debuts of Franco Corelli, (handsome and gifted with a wonderful thrilling voice) and the huge voiced baritone Gian-Giacomo Guelfi as Scarpia. Although, after a 30-year career, Milanov was no longer in her vocal prime, she acquitted herself with distinction. On 23 November she took part in a revival of Verdi’s Ernani at the Metropolitan when Paul Henry Lang of the New York Herald Tribune wrote "After an indifferent start she found herself and satisfied all demands".

For the next few seasons she was kept busy appearing in her popular operatic roles and singing numerous concerts. She was an artist who engendered affection as well admiration and was always guaranteed a warm response. Her career ended with two ‘Farewells’: her final complete performance as Maddalena di Coigny in Andrea Chénier on 13April 1966, followed three days later by the emotional ‘farewell’ to the oldMetropolitan Opera House itself. The operatic performance was reported in the New York Herald Tribune by Louis Snyder who wrote,

"an occasion for a bulging houseful of cheering, applauding and weeping admirers to let the illustrious Yugoslavian soprano know what she has meant to them through the past twenty-eight years ... She received a series of show stopping ovations, culminating with a seven minute outpouring of affection following her third-act aria ... which has had few parallels in the history of the house. Despite the obvious emotional demands of the evening Madame Milanov performed here with the grandeur and authority reserved for the phenomenally gifted few, and it wasn’t sentiment alone which told everyone present that they will never hear or see anyone quite like her again". Presentations were made on stage and the General Manager Rudolf Bing referred to her as a "supremely great singer". In a brief and emotional reply to the audience Milanov said, "I love you with all my heart, and I will carry you with me as long as I live".

Then on the evening of 16 April in an auditorium full of ‘Honoured Guests’ - made up of the most famous singers to have graced the Metropolitan stage over a period of half a century - ZinkaMilanov and Richard Tucker sang the final duet from Andrea Chénier. They may have been part of a programme that featured most of the outstanding younger artists then on contract to the Metropolitan Opera, but that very distinguished audience reserved for them the loudest reception of the evening.

Thereafter Zinka Milanov lived quietly in New York with her second husband, Ljubomir Illic. She was a frequent visitor to the New Metropolitan in the Lincoln Centre, and always enjoyed being recognised as a ‘Grand Dame’. She died on 30 May 1989.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

W.H Seltsam: Metropolitan Opera Annals (H W Wilson Co. New York 1947-1966)
H. Rosenthal: Two Centuries of Opera at Covent Garden (Putnam London 1957)
Quaintance Eaton: Opera Caravan (John Calder, London 1957)
Ronald L. Davis: Opera in Chicago (Appleton-Century, New York 1966)
Irving Kolodin: The Metropolitan Opera (Alfred A Knopf, New York 1967)
Arthur Bloomfield: 50 Years of the San Francisco Opera (San Francisco Book Co.,1972)
David Hamilaton: Metroplitan Opera Encyclopedia (Simon & Schuster, New York 1987)
Paul Jackson: Saturday Afternoons at the Old Met (Amadeus Press, Oregan 1997)


The Recordings

ZinkaMilanov’s histrionic talent for creating believable characters is amply demonstrated by her singing of famous operatic scenes and arias on Prima Voce CD NI 7941. In her prime she displayed secure and brilliant top notes and an ability to scale down her majestic fullbodied middle register, which, coupled with delicate floating pianissimo also made her an ideal interpreter of songs. These vocal attributes were especially admired in concert and her reputation was as much that of a recitalist as a Prima Donna. On this CD we hear her singing a number of well-known lieder and Art-songs, some of them written by her brother Bozidar Kunc himself a noted pianist and composer, together with a set of attractive folk songs from her native Croatia.

Her singing of Caro mio ben one of the best-known Arie Antiche shows an understanding of the simplicity of style this music demands. Like many other Eastern European singers she appeared and undertook many roles in German and is perfectly at home in the language which she sings without accent. In her two Schumann songs her use of portamento and smooth legato line is exemplary. In the Brahms she scales her voice down underlining the restful mood of repose in Am Sontag Morgan and the delicacy of the Wiegenlied (Lullaby). A full-bodied and passionate tone is much in abundance in her singing of the Strauss lieder and she rises to a suitable vocal climax in his exciting Caecilie with its fiercely demanding tessitura in the final bars. Expressive Art-songs by the composers Bersa and Pavcic and her brother all show musicianship and sensitivity. Her fabulous poised pianissimo tones are beautifully exploited in a very moving interpretation of Hageman’s Do Not Go My Love. She sings this in charming and very slightly accented English and it must surely rank as one of the very best versions of this most evocative ballad. ‘The Songs of Yugoslavia’ (Croatia) are recorded with a violin and piano accompaniment arranged by Dr. Lujo Goranin. They all contain attractive folk melodies that have a strong Eastern European, almost Magyar, flavour. She is in fine voice and the varying nostalgic mood of each song benefits from her warm, controlled but heartfelt tones, which have an intimate emotional quality no doubt stimulated by singing in her native language.

© 2008, Alan Bilgora

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