MILKA STOJANOVIC, soprano: GOLDEN VOICE - OPERATIC ARIAS (VERY RARE) 1 CD STEREO

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

MILKA STOJANOVIC, soprano: GOLDEN VOICE - OPERATIC ARIAS (VERY RARE) 1 CD STEREO:
$9.98

MILKA STOJANOVIĆ – GOLDEN VOICE

Here is an ultra rare CD with studio recordings made by a soprano with a voice ofextraordinary beauty, one of the recipients ofthe award “Golden Voice.” According to a survey conducted by the magazine Opera News in the late 1960s, American critics and audiences considered a young Yugoslav soprano by the name of Milka Stojanovic one of four most beautiful operatic voices of the 20th century – alongside those of Renata Tebaldi, Beniamino Gigli, and Mario del Monaco.

Born in Belgrade in the then Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1937, Milka Stojanovic (pronounced Stoh-YAH-novich) debuted in 1960 as Amelia in Un ballo in maschera – interestingly, she was never cast in a small part, singing leading soprano roles right fromherstage debut– and was first heard at the Metropolitan Opera in 1967 as Leonora in La forza del destino. She continued singing with the company untilJanuary 1969, appearing in Turandot, Simon Boccanegra, La bohème, Aida and La Gioconda and partnered by such stars as Corelli, Pavarotti, Nilsson, Bergonzi, Cossotto, Tucker, Merrill, Milnes, MacNeil, Siepi, Ghiaurov, Giaiotti, and Corena.

At its best (1960s and early to mid1970s), Stojanovic’s voice was an instrument ofrichly velvety, luxuriant, rounded tone withoutedginess or shrillness, clean at the top, smoky and sensuous in the lower register. With an inborn nobility of phrasing,beautiful sense oflegato, andmagical use of portamenti that frequently recalled her most famous mentor – Zinka Milanov– Milka Stojanovic finely balanced lyrical subtletieswith dramatic moments. Her darkish timbre, strikingly similar to Milanov’s, but possibly even more luscious and mellifluous, could be considered an aural equivalent of liquid gold.

With a career based in a small country completely ruled by communists, mostly during Tito\'s era (though her own political views have been different), Stojanovic regrettably made no studio recordings of complete operas. On the other hand, live recordings of her performances made privately on relatively primitive, non professional recording devices frequently do not do justice to her voice or artistry. The soprano’s very best can be heard in these studio recordings of operatic arias and scenes from herroles made in Belgrade(otherwise unavailable on CD) and the arias taken from a 1966 performance of The Queen of Spades at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, recorded in stereo by the venue itself (out of print on CD).

Here it is, then, an opportunity to hear the relatively few and rare studio recordings made by an authentic “Golden Voice,” a patrician singer with an utterly beautiful timbre. Not only can that timbre unflinchingly stand comparison to Milanov’s, Tebaldi’s, or Cerquetti\'s, but it can alsoemerge as a clear winner.

PROGRAM:

1. Giuseppe Verdi: AIDA – Ritorna vincitor! (Aida, Act I)

2. Giuseppe Verdi: LA FORZA DEL DESTINO – Pace, pace, mio Dio! (Leonora, Act IV)

3. Vincenzo Bellini: NORMA – Casta diva che inargenti (Norma, Act I)

4. Umberto Giordano: ANDREA CHENIER – La mamma morta (Maddalena, Act III)

Giuseppe Verdi: OTELLO (Desdemona\'s scene, Act IV) –

5.Orchestral Introduction

6. Mi parea... Mia madre aveva una povera ancella

7. Piangea cantando nell\'erma landa, piangea la mesta

8. Ave Maria, piena di grazia

9. Francesco Cilea: ADRIANA LECOUVREUR – Ecco, respiro appena... Io son l\'umile ancella (Adriana, Act I)

10. Giacomo Puccini: TURANDOT – Signore, ascolta (Liù, Act I)

11.Giacomo Puccini:TURANDOT – Tu che di gel sei cinta (Liù, Act III)

12. Amilcare Ponchielli: LA GIOCONDA – Suicidio! In questi fieri momenti (Gioconda, Act IV)

13. Giuseppe Verdi: UN BALLO IN MASCHERA – Morrò, ma prima in grazia (Amelia, Act III)

Giuseppe Verdi: IL TROVATORE –

14. Vanne, lasciami; nè timor di me ti prenda (Leonora, Act IV)

15. D\'amor sull\'ali rosee vanne, sospir dolente (Leonora, Act IV)

16. Giacomo Puccini: TOSCA – Vissi d\'arte, vissi d\'amore (Tosca, Act II)

Peter I. Tchaikovsky: THE QUEEN OF SPADES (sung in Serbian) –

17. Ne zatvaraj još sad, još ne! (Liza/Masha, Act II)

18. Al\' otkud ove suze i tuga ta? (Liza, Act II)

19. Već ponoć bliži se, a Hermana još nema! (Liza, Act IV)

20. Ah, kako stradam u bolu (Liza, Act IV)

Milka Stojanović, soprano

With Orchestra of the Belgrade Opera and Symphonic Orchestra of Belgrade Radio and Television

Conductors: Bogdan Babić, Davorin Županić, and Dušan Miladinović

Tracks 4-13 first published in1975; tracks 17-20 recorded on December 15, 1966, at the Teatro La Fenice, Venice

STUDIO (1-16) AND LIVE (17-20) RECORDINGS; STEREO

ARIODANTECD RTB213325 / 79 minutes / STEREO / AAD (1-16) / ADD (17-20) / Standard jewel case withinserts, includingnotes in English and photographs