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

Addio, mia bella Napoli (Cottrau) 03657E 1728-1AA Vox, Berlin, October 1927
Africaine (Meyerbeer) Mi batte il cor… O paradiso P51017 2-20814 Parlophon, Berlin 1928-06-11
Africaine (Meyerbeer) O paradiso 51618 B8532 Homocord, Berlin, 17 June 1924
Africana (Meyerbeer) Mi batte il cor…O paradiso P.1394-I 5940 Parlophon, Berlin 1922
Aida (Verdi) Celeste Aida H.010247 2759A Vox, Berlin 1926-05 (ac)
Andrea Chénier (Giordano) Come un bel dì di maggio 03571 2758A Vox, Berlin 1926-05 (ac)
Ave Maria (Kahn) B8675 51900-I Homocord, Berlin 1925-08-25.flac
Ballo in maschera (Verdi) Di tu se fedele 03663 1731AA Vox, Berlin 1927-03
Ballo in maschera (Verdi) Di tu se fedele O-6991 2-20812 Parlophon, Berlin 1928-06-11
Bohème (Puccini) Che gelida manina 3-8668 51875-1 Homocord, Berlin 1925-09-10.flac
Boheme (Puccini) Ebbene no no lo son P.1629-I 5944 Parlophon, Berlin 1922
Bohemikí Agápi (Hadziapostolou) B21526 101019 Parlophon, Berlin 1929-06-21
Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni) Addio a la madre B.8674 51899 Homokord, Berlin 1925
Cavallleria Rusticana (Mascagni) O Lola, ch’ai di latti P.1629-II 5906 Parlophon, Berlin 1922
Despo (arr. Skalkottas) B21519 101002 Parlophon, Berlin, 18 March 1929
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