Zinka Milanov
Zinka Milanov ( born May 17, 1906 in Zagreb, Kingdom of Croatia - Slavonia, † May 30, 1989 in New York, NY) was a Yugoslav- American opera singer (soprano ).
She sang mainly for the Metropolitan Opera in New York, but also at the Salzburg Festival and the Vienna State Opera.
Zinka Milanov Zinka Kunc was born.
She studied at the Music Academy of Zagreb, but was yet another lesson in Milan and Berlin, and completed her education with her brother Bozidar Kunc ( pianist and composer ).
In October 1927 she made her debut as Leonora in Verdi's Il trovatore in Ljubljana and a few weeks later as Marguerite in Gounod's Faust in her hometown. Here they remained until 1935. Occasional appearances abroad led for the years 1936/37, to a commitment to the German Theatre in Prague ( here she stood in March 1937 in Aida for the first time on stage together with the gas- animal border Jussi Björling, her frequent partner in later years on the stage of MET and in the studio ). In 1937, she completed her second marriage, her husband was the actor Predrag Milanov ( 1899-1947 ). Whose surname she retained even when she married in 1947 the Yugoslav general and diplomat Ljubomir Ilić.
His international breakthrough came in 1937 with a guest performance at the Vienna State Opera (conductor: Bruno Walter ) again, a performance of Verdi's Messa da Requiem Arturo Toscanini ( on the recommendation of Bruno Walter ) at the Salzburg Festival and the debut at the MET ( as a troubadour Leonora ). Over a period of almost 30 years, she was one of the big stars of the house ( only it did not occur in the years 1941/42 and 1947/49 on here ). She sang at home in nearly 300 performances, without the. At the annual tours in the U.S. But in that time she appeared in other opera houses, such as in Chicago and San Francisco, as well as 1956/57, at the Covent Garden Opera in London.
Its main roles were Aida, Leonora Troubadour, Mask Ball Amelia, Tosca, Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni.
Zinka Milanov had a clear, expressive and tonally beautiful voice; were praised especially her legato art and its delicate pianissimo tones.
In 1966 she participated in the MET her stage farewell in ' La Gioconda ' by Ponchielli. After that she worked as a singing teacher in New York.