Bust-length role portrait photograph of the soprano as Leonora in Verdi's La Forza del Destino, signed in full and inscribed "Most sincerely..."
From the studios of De Bellis, New York. Ca. 254 x 203 mm.
"After appearances at the Deutsches Theater, Prague, in 1937 and at the Salzburg Festival the same year (where she sang an acclaimed Verdi Requiem with Toscanini), [Zinka Milanov] began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera, making her début as Leonora (Il trovatore) and appearing every season (except for 1941–2 and 1947–50) until her farewell performance as Maddalena de Coigny (Andrea Chénier) in 1966; with the company she gave 424 performances in 14 works – notably as the principal Verdi and Puccini heroines, but also as Norma, Donna Anna, Santuzza, Maddalena de Coigny and La Gioconda... Milanov’s lirico spinto voice was one of translucent beauty as well as great power, and she was able to spin out the most exquisite pianissimo phrases... While she rarely delved deeply into a character, she dominated her roles by virtue of her majestic deportment. Her voice can be heard in pristine form in relays from the Metropolitan on the 1940s, notably as Amelia (Un ballo in maschera) and La Gioconda. Among her studio recordings, her Leonora (Il trovatore) and Aida reveal her lustrous tone and finely moulded phrasing, as do a 1939 broadcast of the Missa solemnis and a 1940 broadcast of the Verdi Requiem, both under Toscanini." Harold Rosenthal and Alan Blyth in Grove Music Online.
Item #23885
Price: $120.00 other currencies