Zinka Milanov

Croatian-born operatic spinto soprano, born May 17, 1906 in Zagreb, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, Austria-Hungary, died May 30, 1989 in Manhattan, New York City. She had a major career centred on the New York Metropolitan Opera. She studied with the Wagnerian soprano Milka Ternina and her assistant Marija Kostrenčić. She also studied in Milan with Carpi and in Berlin with Stückgolt On October 29, 1927, she made her operatic debut as Leonora in Giuseppe Verdi's Il Trovatore in Ljubljana, Slovenia, at age 21. Her debut in her native Croatia, at the National Theatre in Zagreb, took place five weeks later as Marguerite in Charles Gounod's Faust. Later she became a member of the New German Theatre in Prague, where all performances were sung in German. She was discovered there by Bruno Walter, who recommended her to Arturo Toscanini for a performance of Verdi's Requiem in Salzburg. In 1937, the soprano made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera, once again as Leonora. She was a regular throughout the 1940ss. She made her debut at the Teatro alla Scala as Tosca in 1950. Milanov returned to the Metropolitan Opera the same year. She gave her final performance in 1966 at the closing night of the old Metropolitan Opera House. Having worked as a voice teacher while still performing, Milanov devoted herself to teaching after her retirement. Among her pupils were Betty Allen, Grace Bumbry, Christa Ludwig, Regina Resnik, Dubravka Zubović and Milka Stojanović. Composer Richard Hundley was one of her studio pianists. She recorded prolifically from the 1940s through to the 1960s. Her voice was well-suited to Italian operas such as those of Verdi, Ponchielli, Puccini and the verismo composers. She died at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan on May 30, 1989, following a stroke, aged 83 Her brother is Božidar Kunc.