Aprile Millo Triumphant Return To Italy In Puccini's "Il Tabarro"

Soprano Aprile Millo returned to the Italian city of Genoa for the role of Giorgetta in Puccini's Il Tabarro. The opera was performed in concert version at Teatro Carlo Felice. Watch a video excerpt after the jump.

Tenor Michael Fabiano Praises Renée Fleming And Aprile Millo

Tenor Michael Fabiano, with his mother Carole, at the opening night reception for the
MET's new production of Die Fledermaus (Photo: Facebook)

"'Renee Fleming has been very good to me. During the Paris [run of Otello] she took a big leap of faith with me,' he stated. 'And there were moments when we would have time to talk and I would be able to listen to her and learn. Even small moments, three minutes or six listening to an expert is magnificent. It is something that you don't get with others. To talk

Singing Lucrezia Borgia
with Renée Fleming at the
San Francisco Opera in 2011

with someone so special like Ms. Fleming and understand what is running in her mind about the business and how she sings and the pressures of it. Those kinds of moments are priceless.' Another major influence on his life has been soprano Aprile Millo; the tenor noted that he met Millo during a master class at age 21 and has kept in touch with her since. 'She is a wonderful soprano who has been a dear friend and given me very wonderful advice throughout the last several years,' he stated. 'I look up to her for the old tradition of singing. The grand opera tradition. Because she was part of that I think more of that is needed today.'" [Source]

Aprile Millo Celebrates Christmas With Carol Medley MP3

"Iconic Opera Singer Aprile Millo presents a tribute to her many fans in this brand new arrangement of beloved Christmas Carols telling the story of how we celebrate the Holidays during various stages of our life. In advance of her studio recording release later next year, Millo records here a singing Christmas Card, complete with a novel personal touch, directly speaking and singing to her fans around the world. A stunning arrangement by noted soprano and opera historian, Dr. Mary-Lou Vetere was written and it was recorded LIVE in Niagara Falls, ON. Mme. Millo has been compared to some of the greatest voices who ever sang in opera, Renata Tebaldi, Rosa Ponselle, Claudia Muzio and Zinka Milanov. The beloved soprano has for over twenty-eight years been a beacon of style, authentic Verdi sound and idiomatic phrasing; the geniune article lirico-spinto soprano d' agilita'. Millo has been thrilling audiences world over and for almost thirty years, she is considered the 'grande dame' of the Italian Wing at the historic

Purchase Aprile Millo Rendition Of Famous Hymn On ReverbNation

The heavenly voice of soprano Aprile Millo
captured in hymn. (Photo: Christian Steiner)

Listen to operatic soprano Aprile Millo give a heart-swelling interpretation of the hymn "Nearer, My God, to Thee" by clicking here. Users may also purchase the track, along with other songs and arias. 

"'Nearer, My God, to Thee' is a 19th-century Christian hymn by Sarah Flower Adams, based loosely on Genesis 28:11–19,[1] the story of Jacob's dream. Genesis 28:11–12 can be translated as follows: 'So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it...' The hymn is well known, among other uses, as the alleged last song the band on RMS Titanic played before the ship sank. The verse was written by the English poet and Unitarian hymn writer Sarah Flower Adams (1805–1848) at her home in Sunnybank, Loughton, Essex, England, in 1841. It was first set to music by Adams's sister, the composer Eliza Flower, for William Johnson Fox's collection Hymns and Anthems. The hymn even made its way briefly onto the operatic stage. The singer Emma Abbott, prompted by 'her uncompromising and grotesque puritanism' rewrote La traviata so that Violetta expired singing not Verdi's 'Addio del passato,' but 'Nearer My God to Thee.'" [Source] Where else have you heard that tune? Check it out after the jump.

What Smells Like A Dozen Famous Sopranos And Is Red All Over?

One King's Lane is currently running an auction of Metropolitan Opera memorabilia. Perhaps the most interesting item among the lot is a costume worn by a curious collection of divas that have sung the role of Elizabeth of Valois with the company over the last three decades, beginning with its original wearer Renata Scotto. A nice bargain of operatic history for only $4,999US and Halloween is just around the corner! 

A full image of the dress after the jump and be sure to check the tags at the end of this post to see the list of singers to wear the garment.

Click on the image to enlarge. You will see a detail of the tags sewn into the costume that designate some of the singers who wore it over the years. You can see sopranos wearing it here and here. Also watch the dress in action here.

Side-by-Side: Aprile Millo Singing "La Mamma Morta"

Does Competition and Foundation Prize Money Help Singers?

Angela Meade (l) with 1986 Richard
Tucker Award winner Dolora Zajick
(Photo: Ruth Fremson/NY Times)

Anthony Tommasini wrote in the New York Times: "Since 1975 the Richard Tucker Music Foundation, named for the great American tenor, has fostered the careers of emerging singers." The annual gala concert was held on Sunday (November 7) evening. "The evening’s main business was to honor this year’s Tucker Award winner, the young soprano Angela Meade, who receives a $30,000 prize, the foundation’s largest grant. Ms. Meade recently sang three performances of the title role in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena in the Met’s new production, and she returns to the company in February for Verdi’s seldom-heard Ernani. Her first offering here was a fiery aria from Verdi’s Attila. Her sound was enormous, rich and unforced; her coloratura runs and passagework were dispatched with aplomb and precision. Vocally, Ms. Meade was even better in the Act I finale of Bellini’s Norma, for which she was joined by the mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick as Adalgisa and the sturdy tenor Frank Porretta (substituting for Mr. Giordani) as Pollione." But how much fostering does Ms. Meade's career need at this point? According to the Metropolitan Opera, a top-earner makes $16K/performance. Even a newcomer like Meade (who actually was a winner of the National Council Auditions in 2007 and made her debut at the MET in the 2008 production of Ernani) could easily pull in $9K/performance at the low-end estimate. So at this stage of the game, does a singer like Angela Meade need the help of the Richard Tucker Foundation? Looking back at past Tucker Award winners might show that most of these singers were well on their way and didn't need much "fostering." Check out examples, as well as video performances of these past winners at the Richard Tucker Gala, after the jump.

Aprile Millo Plans For October Master Class in Canada

La Millo (Photo: Johannes Ifkovits)

"A master class by the iconic Verdi spinto soprano of the world’s greatest opera houses. Aprile Millo holds the distinction of being considered today's true Verdi soprano. Critics worldwide have confirmed this unique position comparing her to such legendary artists as Renata Tebaldi, Claudia Muzio, Zinka Milanov, and Maria Callas for her seamless legato, Italianate color and beauty of voice wed to dramatic commitment." [Source] 

Details are after the jump.

Zachary Woolfe Explores "Charisma" in Opera Singers

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most
charismatic of them all?
Maria Callas photographed by Angus McBean.

"Charismatic performers are those whom you simply can’t look away from. Their charisma is an almost physical presence, a spark that powers even the most unassuming musical passage. To experience a charismatic performance is to feel elevated, simultaneously dazed and focused, galvanized and enlarged. It is to surrender to something raw and elemental, to feel happy but also unsatisfied. Charisma calls forth a melancholy, a vaguely unrequited feeling. I’ve caught myself, after certain performances of an aria or a movement, leaning forward, as if drawn against my will. Charisma requires that you acknowledge a new, larger set of possibilities. It is demanding. We are told of Callas’s overwhelming use of her body and voice onstage. As Schonberg added, of that 1965 Tosca, 'the stage presence shown by Callas in her performance would have raised the hackles on a deaf man.' The question is whether people want to be swept up. Charisma can be exhilarating but also frightening. Our surrender to it demands a trust that is not easily conceded. If our desire from performance is only for comfort and reassurance, charisma will repel us. It is about revealing scope, and it raises the stakes dangerously high....Recently I was in the Met Opera Shop, and a video clip came on the screen above the CD racks. The longtime Met soprano Aprile Millo was singing 'La mamma morta,' the ecstatic aria from Giordano’s Andrea Chenier, with burning intensity. The sales clerk and I both watched raptly. Later I e-mailed Ms. Millo to ask her what charisma is. 'Hemingway gave us a haunting clue to it,' she replied. 'In his obsession with the Spanish bullfights, he spoke of the lust of the crowd and its desire to feel something special, a raw authenticity, even in so brutal a setting. What he mentions is the hush that would come over the crowd at the entrance of the toreadors. The people could sense the difference between those who did it for the fame, the paycheck, and those who had the old spirit: the nobility, bravery, heart, ‘duende.’ I believe this also happens in the theater. The crowd can sense the one with the authentic message, the connection to the truth.'" [Source]

Happy Birthday: Aprile Millo

"Mi parea... Piangera cantando... Ave Maria" Otello

"Ah Perfido!" Op. 65

"Aprile Millo (born April 14, 1958) is an American operatic soprano of Italian and Irish ancestry who is particularly admired for her interpretations of the works of Giuseppe Verdi. Possessing a spinto voice of power, warmth and temperament, Millo became one of the most celebrated opera singers of the late twentieth century. Although she has performed at many of the world's leading opera houses and with many orchestras and ensembles internationally, Millo has spent much of her career appearing in productions at the Metropolitan Opera. Aprile Millo was born in New York City, the daughter of two opera singers, tenor Giovanni Millo (John Hamill) and soprano Margherita Girosi. Millo became interested in music at an early age and received her musical education primarily

Elizabeth Taylor, Friend of Opera, Dies at 79

"Ave Maria" (Mascagni)
performed by Kathleen Battle

According to her publicist, actress Dame Elizabeth Taylor has passed away at age 79 from congestive heart failure. It is said she died peacefully. In 1963, the actress was featured in the film Cleopatra. She used a signature eyeliner many defined as "cat eyes" that inspired opera singer Maria Callas to begin wearing a similar look to add more glamour to her appearance. The relationship between the two women, however, went beyond makeup. In fact, Ms. Taylor became an active member in the opera community. As part of the royal media scene, Ms. Taylor and Richard Burton were members of a social elite that included opera diva Maria Callas and oil tycoon Aristotle Onassis. It may very well have been Madame Callas that introduced

Maria Callas with the actress

Ms. Taylor to Franco Zeffirelli because he had previously directed the opera singer in La Traviata, Norma and Tosca, and the two were close friends. Ms. Taylor and Richard Burton soon appeared together in Franco Zeffirelli's film debut, The Taming of the Shrew, in 1967. Based on the William Shakespeare play, it was an over-the-top Hollywood budget buster with the lead actors sinking $1 million of their own fortunes into the project and waiving their fees for a percentage of the box-office revenues. The collaboration sparked a lifelong friendship between the actress and the director. Zeffirelli was to become one of the preeminent

Aprile Millo Talks About Her Personal Life

What is her greatest disappointment? Which singers does she admire? What city does she love the most? What was the first recording she ever bought? What are her pre-performance rituals? What is her favorite food? All these questions (and more) are answered in an interview with online magazine GBOpera.com. Check out the whole interview here. 

Aprile Millo Sings Wagner

(Photo: Christian Steiner)

"Dich teure Halle"
Tannhäuser


"Einsam in trüben Tagen"
Lohengrin


The spinto soprano made a career singing the most challenging roles of Verdi in Aida, Il Trovatore, Simon Boccanegra, Un Ballo in Maschera, Ernani, La Forza del Destino and Otello. Although many of these operas were recorded for posterity, her only solo project was limited to a single disc