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

 

 

Madama Butterfly (Puccini) Addio fiorito asil B7794 119050 Parlophon, Berlin 1930-06-19

Manna kai yios (Samaras) B21518 101003 Parlophon, Berlin, 18 March 1929.

Manon (Massenet) Io son sol… Ah dispar vision B.8674 51903-1 Homokord, Berlin 1925

Maria, Marì (Di Capua) B17534 36671 Parlophon, Berlin, 7 November 1928

Martha (Flotow) M’appari B8675 51901 Homocord, Berlin 1925-08-25

Martha (Flotow) M’appari H.010247 2744A Vox, Berlin 1926-05 (ac)

Mattinata (Leoncavallo) B17534 34948-2 Parlophon, Berlin, 6 November 1928

Mefistofele (Boito) Dai campi, dai prati 6039, 2143-BB Kristall, Berlin 1927

Mefistofele (Boito) Giunto sul passo estremo 03571 2755A Vox, Berlin 1926-05 (ac)

Nanourisma (Samaras) B21524 101018 Parlophon, Berlin, 21 June 1929

O Yero Dimos (Karéras) B21519 101008 Parlophon, Berlin 1929-03-19

Oh latrefti mou (= O meine Traumfrau) (Brodszky) B21596 101707 Parlophon, Berlin, 15 May 1931

Otello (Verdi) Sì pel ciel (w. Athanasiu) 04177 2757A Vox, Berlin, May 1926

Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) O Colombina 3-8667 51871-1 Homokord, Berlin 1925

Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) Vesti la giubba 6039 2143-BB Vox, Berlin, October 1927