Description

COSTA MILONA (KERATEA, 3 FEBRUARY, 1889 – LONDON, 27 MARCH, 1949)

 

 

 

 

A spinto tenor of note during the 1920s and 1930s, he is remembered principally for his recordings. Born Konstantinos Mylonas into poverty, he lost his father at an early age and was sent to work in the mines. Heard singing by a well-off gentleman, he was sponsored to the Athens Conservatory where he did well and gained recital experience in concerts sometimes accompanied by a young Dimitri Mitropoulos on the piano. Upon his 1920 graduation he relocated to Milan where he refined his art, Italianized his name, and took-up with a married Italian lady. Milona made 1923 appearances in Monte Carlo as both a Sailor and a Shepherd from R. Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” but spent most of the 1920s in the German capital earning praise in such roles as Rodolfo in G. Puccini’s “La Boheme” and the tragic clown Canio of R. Leoncavallo’s “I Pagliacci” while recording for various companies. He was seen at the Vienna State Opera in 1932, worked as a voice teacher in Berlin during the mid 1930s, and sang at the Deutsche Opera Berlin as late as 1938. After spending the war years in Berlin, he moved to London in 1946, his way paid by a wealthy English lady as by then his voice was used-up and he was broke. Milona died of heart disease after a period of steady decline.

 

Chronology of some appearances

 

1923 Monte Carlo Grand-Théâtre Tristan und Isolde (sailor)

1923 Monte Carlo Grand-Théâtre Tristan und Isolde (sailor)

1938 Berlin Deutsches Oper La Bohème (Rodolfo)

1938 Berlin Deutsches Oper Pagliacci (Canio)

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Diamantoula Mou (Skalikottas) B21520 101011 Parlophon, Berlin 1929-03-19

Die Königin von Saba (Goldmark) Magische Note 3-51614 51516 Homokord, Berlin 1924

Don Sebastiano (Donizetti) Deserto in terra 3-8535 51619-I Homokord, Berlin 1924

Élégie (Massenet) B17537 36664 Parlophon, Berlin, 5 November 1928

Faust (Gounod) Salut, demeure chaste et pure 3-8676 51902 Homokord, Berlin 1925

Faust (Gounod) Salve, dimora B8676 51902 Homocord, Berlin, 25 August 1925

Favorita (Donizetti) Spirto gentil P.1631-II 5822 Parlophon, Berlin 1922

Forza del Destino (Verdi) Solenne in quest’ora with Jean Athanasiu  04177 2745A Vox, Berlin 1926

Giati (Xanthopoulos) B21522 101010 Parlophon, Berlin, 19 March 1929

Gioconda (Ponchielli) Cielo e mar 03570 2746A Vox, Berlin 1926-05 (ac)

Gioconda (Ponchielli) Cielo e mar B7793 119049 Parlophon, Berlin, 19 June 1930

Gioconda (Ponchielli) Cielo e mar B8533 51613-2 Homocord, Berlin, 17 June 1924

Gioconda (Ponchielli) Cielo e mar P. 1482-II 5839 Parlophon, Berlin 1922

Glyko mou agapi (Naltsas) B21524 101013 Parlophon, Berlin, 20 June 1929

Huguenots (Meyerbeer) O qual soave vision… Bianca al par H.010218 2756A Vox, Berlin 1926-05 (ac)