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

Élégie (Massenet) B17537 36664 Parlophon, Berlin, 5 November 1928
Elisir d’Amore (Donizetti) Una furtiva lagrima P.1631-I 5818 Parlophon, Berlin 1922
Faust (Gounod) Salut, demeure chaste et pure 3-8676 51902 Homokord, Berlin 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
Gioconda (Ponchielli) Cielo e mar 03570 2746A Vox, Berlin 1926-05 (ac)
Gioconda (Ponchielli) Cielo e mar P. 1482-II 5839 Parlophon, Berlin 1922
Huguenots (Meyerbeer) O qual soave vision…Bianca al par H.010218 2756A Vox, Berlin 1926-05 (ac)
Ideale (Tosti) 3-8531 51610-I Homocord, Berlin 1924-06-16.flac
Ideale (Tosti) B12026 36670 Parlophon, Berlin 1928-11-07
Jocelyn (Godard) Nascosti in quest’asil (Berceuse) 3-8535 51611 Homocord, Berlin 1924-06-11
Kardia pisti (= Vertrautes Herz) (Barthélemy) B21522 101007 Parlophon, Berlin, 19 March 1929
La forza del destino O tu che in seno P9315 2-20816-2 Parlophon, Berlin, 13 June 1928
L’addio a Napoli (Cottrau) B 7796 119055 Parlophon, Berlin 1930-06-20
Madama Butterfly (Puccini) Addio fiorito asil B7794 119050 Parlophon, Berlin 1930-06-19
Manna kai yios (Samaras) B21518 101003 Parlophon, Berlin, 18 March 1929.flac
Manon (Massenet) Io son sol… Ah dispar vision B.8674 51903-1 Homokord, Berlin 1925
Maria, Marì (di Capua) B 7795 Parlophon, Berlin 1928