Whatever Happened to Aprile Millo?
janeh...@hotmail.com
Whatever happened to Aprile Millo? Is she singing or did she lose her
voice? Why isn't she at the MET anymore? Would appreciate any info.
Thanks in advance.
James Jorden
Aprile Millo is currently appearing at the Met in "Un ballo in maschera"
(she was originally contracted to sing her first local Leonora in ""La
forza del destino", but, well, you know...) The word on the street is
that she is somewhat better vocal shape than she has been for several
seasons.
La Millo sings her first Tosca at La Scala this summer, with her buddy
Elizabeth Taylor an invited guest for the prima.
--
james jorden
jjo...@ix.netcom.com
http://www.anaserve.com/~parterre
"I don't want to be educated. I want to be drowned in beauty!"
-- Diana Vreeland
John Lynch
janeh...@hotmail.com wrote:
>
> Whatever happened to Aprile Millo? Is she singing or did she lose her
> voice? Why isn't she at the MET anymore? Would appreciate any info.
> Thanks in advance.
(Shhhh! We're ignoring her in hopes that she'll go away.)
--
John Lynch
James Jorden
John Lynch wrote:
> (Shhhh! We're ignoring her in hopes that she'll go away.)
Aww. Be nice. I think Millo still has a shot, especially if she stops
doing so much Verdi and concentrates on the "Verismo Crazy Lady" fach.
Michael Black
James Jorden wrote:
>
> John Lynch wrote:
>
> > (Shhhh! We're ignoring her in hopes that she'll go away.)
>
> Aww. Be nice. I think Millo still has a shot, especially if she stops
> doing so much Verdi and concentrates on the "Verismo Crazy Lady" fach.
And heck, she's better than Sweet!
--
Michael Black's Opera House
Michael Black, Youngstown, Ohio
http://www.stairway.bc.ca/bjorling
Jussi Rules!!!
J. Miller
Michael Black <bjoe...@worldnet.att.net> wrote in article
<331282...@worldnet.att.net>...
> James Jorden wrote:
> >
> > John Lynch wrote:
> >
> > > (Shhhh! We're ignoring her in hopes that she'll go away.)
> >
> > Aww. Be nice. I think Millo still has a shot, especially if she stops
> > doing so much Verdi and concentrates on the "Verismo Crazy Lady" fach.
>
> And heck, she's better than Sweet!
>
too much. Why don't people seem to want to talk about opera? I'm not trying
to be mean, really, but so much is said about singers (many of whom I've never
heard) and so little about anything else. I think it's because men are such
big gossips, what do you think?
Just wondering.......
Jack Johnson
On the subject of missing sopranos, whatever happened to Susan Dunn?
Helmut Fischer
janeh...@hotmail.com wrote:
>
> Whatever happened to Aprile Millo? Is she singing or did she lose her
> voice? Why isn't she at the MET anymore? Would appreciate any info.
> Thanks in advance.
debut i this role in Vienna. She lost her voice completely in the
Nile-act. She had to sing down an octave at every higher note (from a
upwards), and it was even worse in the duet with Radames, when she sang
complete phrases constantely one octave low (terra, terra,...) even when
the partitura does not gow higher than g. So she stayed in
tenor-tessitura sometimes for a whole minute. This sounded especially
funny when she was singin lower than the tenor (Giuseppe Giacomini). She
was replaced for the second of the two performanes by Alessandra Marc
and for three performances of Don Carlo the following week by Elena
Filipova and Mara Zampieri. She never appeared again in Vienna. A few
month before she sang Maddalena in Chenier, and she was not good either.
The duet in the last act was transposed down a semitone, but his was
probably for the tenor Giorgio Lamberti.
Helmut
R. Taylor
You seem to post one career-ending disaster story after another about
solid singers who never seem to have anything close to these problems at
other houses.
I heard Millo recently and she was singing better than I have ever heard
her sing. You speak of her as if she was never going to be able to sing
again.
Domingo runs off the stage during Act II Otello to rest for 45 minutes and
they skip to Act III?
Are you making these stories up or is Vienna just cursed?
Mark R. Penney
>Three of my favorite people, but you know boys, maybe we do talk
>about singers
>too much. Why don't people seem to want to talk about opera?
>I'm not trying
>to be mean, really, but so much is said about singers (many of
>whom I've never
>heard) and so little about anything else. I think it's because
>men are such
>big gossips, what do you think?
>
>Just wondering.......
>
Janice, you're brilliant! Thank you.
Maybe we need a separate rec.music.sopranos.gossip.
I too have noticed that a much larger percentage of stuff on this
group is singer-oriented than I expected. I think it's because
it's a subject where there's always something new to say. A new
opera is written only once in a very great while. A major new
production happens only once every couple months. But there are
hundreds of singers singing every night, in dozens of cities
around the world. Given those odds, chances are one of them will
do something brilliant, amusing, or appalling. And chances are
someone who writes in this forum will have been present.
Personally, I find the gossip immensely entertaining. Perhaps
that's because I'm male.
--M.
James Jorden
WClayTex wrote:
>
> When Aprile Milo first appeared, I thought her a fine dramatic
> soprano, but she seemed to take on mannerisms, sort of the "grande
> dame" syndrom, which I could have lived with, but her voice lost much
> of its sheen and power pretty quickly and developed a waver. Does
> anyone else feel this way?
Well, yes, most of these things happened. And Millo sang some
performances that she really should have cancelled. But over the last
couple of years she has (I am told) been putting in work on correcting
the flaws in her vocal technique, and I am here to tell you that it
seems to be working-- her Ballo at the Met was solidly in tune, with
exciting high notes and expressive phrasing. She was here and there a
little cautious, as if she were wary of giving too much in this very
heavy role.
I think she's back.
--
james jorden
jjo...@ix.netcom.com
http://www.anaserve.com/~parterre
"Without Jews, Gypsies and homosexuals, there is no theater."
-- Mel Brooks in "To Be or Not to Be"
WClayTex
When Aprile Milo first appeared, I thought her a fine dramatic soprano,
but she seemed to take on mannerisms, sort of the "grande dame" syndrom,
which I could have lived with, but her voice lost much of its sheen and
power pretty quickly and developed a waver. Does anyone else feel this
way?
James Jorden
Lis K. Froding wrote:
> Just the change of name from April to Aprile seems a bit
> silly. And, if I'm not mistaken, she dug up some rather long-ago
> ancestral name in order to sound Italian. I can stand listening to
> her as long as I don't also have to look at her.
Many singers (and other performers) change their names for professional
purposes; often this change is suggested by an agent or manager.
What bothers you so much about *looking* at Millo? I find her a stylish
(if occasionally mannered) actress in an old-fashioned style.
And, while we're at it, if she bothers you so much, why don't you just
forget about her?
Lis K. Froding
In <19970312005...@ladder01.news.aol.com> wcla...@aol.com
Sort of. Just the change of name from April to Aprile seems a bit
silly. And, if I'm not mistaken, she dug up some rather long-ago
ancestral name in order to sound Italian. I can stand listening to her
as long as I don't also have to look at her.
Lis
Lis K. Froding
In <33275A...@ix.netcom.com> James Jorden <jjo...@ix.netcom.com>
writes:
>Lis K. Froding wrote:
>> Just the change of name from April to Aprile seems a bit
>> silly. And, if I'm not mistaken, she dug up some rather long-ago
>> ancestral name in order to sound Italian. I can stand listening to
>> her as long as I don't also have to look at her.
>
>professional purposes; often this change is suggested by an agent or
>manager.
Yeah, I know. But still...
>What bothers you so much about *looking* at Millo? I find her a
>stylish (if occasionally mannered) actress in an old-fashioned style.
We all have our idiosyncrasies.
>And, while we're at it, if she bothers you so much, why don't you just
>forget about her?
Ha, ha ;-)
This place sure has livened up ;-)
Lis
Claud H. Shirley III
James Jorden wrote:
>
over the last
> couple of years she has (I am told) been putting in work on correcting
> the flaws in her vocal technique, and I am here to tell you that it
> seems to be working-- her Ballo at the Met was solidly in tune, with
> exciting high notes and expressive phrasing. She was here and there a
> little cautious, as if she were wary of giving too much in this very
> heavy role.
>
> I think she's back.
I am very glad to hear this news of Millo's continued recovery. I
remember when I first heard her Aida, in the mid 80's, thinking, this is
the way Tebaldi wished she could have sung Aida, but her voice was just
not secure enough to do the role more than a few times, and she gave it
up. Millo seemed to have all the technique, plus the velvet sound as
well. And also during the late 80's, no one was better at the big Verdi
rarities she undertook - I Lombardi, and especially La Battaglia di
Legnano, as well as the standard fare of Luisa Miller and Trovatore -
then it seemed to me too many Maddalenas followed and the voice began to
lose its bloom - there was an uncertain Aida from Chicago, and a Simone
at the Met that also showed problems - and during a televised Pavarotti
+ concert, she dodged the two sustained B flats in the Ernani trio.
However, I thought she sang a terrific Desdemona in February of last
year (not as pretty as Fleming's perhaps, but far more idiomatic, and
from what I heard, just as ecstatically received by her fans), and I am
very happy to hear the news, courtesy of Mr. Jorden, that she was strong
in this run of Ballo. She is one a few - I think of Soviero immediately
- who still knows what personality in the voice is all about.
Martin Herbordt
All I can say is ``You Go Houston!'' The three tenors
concert at the Astrodome has been canceled due to `a
faulty sound system.' Talk is that the real reason is
that they would have been singing to about 50000 empty
seats as fewer than 15000 tickets had been sold.
Houston may love an `event,' but 3 Tenors Inc. no longer
appears to be special enough to entice 10's of thousands
of non-opera-goers. At least not for $40-$300.
Martin
Frederici
On Thu, 13 Mar 1997 13:27:53 -0600, Martin Herbordt <herb...@uh.edu>
wrote:
The recent Melbourne fiasco has been dubbed the 9 Tenors.
(3 Tenors plus 6 echos) The Minister for Consumer Affairs in New South
Wales has offered assistance to residents in that state getting a
refund on their tickets from the state of Victoria.
Brian Newhouse
> Lis K. Froding wrote:
> > Just the change of name from April to Aprile seems a bit
> > silly. And, if I'm not mistaken, she dug up some rather long-ago
> > ancestral name in order to sound Italian. I can stand listening to
> > her as long as I don't also have to look at her.
>
> Many singers (and other performers) change their names for professional
> purposes; often this change is suggested by an agent or manager.
>
You mean agents and managers are _still_ pulling the "you gotta have a
foreign-sounding name to sing grand opera" gimmick on innocent young
American singers? That some among us are still mired in the days in which
a Lillian Norton had to change her last name to Nordica? I mean, after
Richard Tucker and Leontyne Price, why would any aspiring Verdi singer
_need_ to take on an Italianate name if s/he didn't already have one? (I
presume that we aren't talking about a name that was originally difficult
to spell and/or overly long.)
--
Brian Newhouse
newh...@mail.crisp.net
Linda B. Fairtile
Brian Newhouse writes:
>I mean, after Richard Tucker and Leontyne Price, why would any aspiring
>Verdi singer_need_ to take on an Italianate name if s/he didn't already have
one?
I get your point, but Price's first name is Mary (Violet and Leontyne are her
middle names), and Tucker's name was originally Reuben Ticker. Performers
change their names for a number of reasons.
--
Linda B. Fairtile
Astoria, New York
ta...@bway.net
Tom Moran
jjo...@ix.netcom.com writes:
>Lis K. Froding wrote:
>> Just the change of name from April to Aprile seems a bit
>> silly. And, if I'm not mistaken, she dug up some rather long-ago
>> ancestral name in order to sound Italian. I can stand listening to
>> her as long as I don't also have to look at her.
> Many singers (and other performers) change their names
> for professional purposes; often this change is suggested
> by an agent or manager.
> What bothers you so much about *looking* at Millo? I find her
> a stylish (if occasionally mannered) actress in an old-fashioned
> style.
I agree completely. I've always thought that Millo was not only extremely
talented (I don't think there's ever been a better Liu), but a total babe
-- albeit, as James says, a tad pretentious. But since she *is* an opera
singer I figure that comes with the territory.
> And, while we're at it, if she bothers you so much, why don't
> you just forget about her?
Exactly -- let the rest of us appreciate her.
I've seen Millo a number of times (in Ballo, in La Wally at Carnegie
Hall), and I can't wait for her to finally take a crack at Norma. She is
probably my favorite opera singer, with the possible exception of Cheryl
Studer.
In an era of plastic sopranos, she's the real thing.
Tom Moran
Claud H. Shirley III
Tom Moran wrote:
> I've seen Millo a number of times (in Ballo, in La Wally at Carnegie
> Hall), and I can't wait for her to finally take a crack at Norma.
>
>
> Tom Moran
I concur wholeheartedly, and I hope her recent stabilization (as shown
in last season's superb Desdemona, and from what I hear also in this
year's Ballo) of her considerable post "first-bloom" vocal gifts is in
preparation for a Norma. We (her admirers) like to remember when she
could toss of the high coloratura of parts like Battaglia di Leganano or
I Lombardi, - one remembers that in the late 40's and earliest years of
the 50's Tebaldi's voice was higher and lighter as well - but now
Millo's voice has deepened, as did Tebaldi's, and without any shrinkage.
I hope she persists in strengtheneing herself, and then undertakes
Norma. It would be a great achievement of her own, and (given the
similar timbre and temperament) it would have the added grace to stand
as wonderful compensation for Tebaldi's reluctance (out of reverence for
the role, I am sure) to leave us even a glimpse of what her Norma might
have been.
And I agree - Millo is a very attractive woman, and a natural-born
actress.
phaeton
In article <332855...@uh.edu>, herb...@uh.edu says...
>
>All I can say is ``You Go Houston!'' The three tenors
>concert at the Astrodome has been canceled due to `a
>faulty sound system.' Talk is that the real reason is
>that they would have been singing to about 50000 empty
>seats as fewer than 15000 tickets had been sold.
>
>Houston may love an `event,' but 3 Tenors Inc. no longer
>appears to be special enough to entice 10's of thousands
>of non-opera-goers. At least not for $40-$300.
>
>Martin
At least they would have 5000 empty seats to sing to. If it were the
Three Sopranos, even the SEATS wouldn't come!
@one.net Bill Wild Willy
Oooooooo! Meow!
It was a big deal, the first 3Ts concert. World Cup final. JC just
getting over his leukemia treatments, performing again for the first
time. First time they'd all perform together. But you know, these
guys are >opera< singers. Well, one of them still is, anyway. That
wasn't an opera. I don't know about you, but I was left feeling
vaguely cheated. And what they did in L.A. a couple of years ago . .
. . . Well, if you can't say something nice about someone, as my
mommy always says . . . . . . .. But do the words "gravy train" pop
into your mind as well?
I have to say I'm no big fan of Broadway show tunes. I'm even less of
a fan of show tunes sung by guys who have no concept of what a Broadway
show is. And let's not EVEN get into a discussion of pronunciation.
So Houston appears to know its baseball/football/fill-in-your-sport
-here. But I think the lack of selling tickets for the 3Ts is more a
reflection of the Houston population in general just not knowing about
these 3 guys, than it is a comment on them. And yes, I do know there
is a Houston Grand Opera. That's not the point. I don't know that
they could fill our own Riverfront Stadium (or whatever trumped up name
they're calling it these days), despite the quite healthy opera company
here. I think they need a local population of at least 10 million to
be assured of drawing a crowd of 50,000. That kind of narrows the
practical venues down a bit, n'est-ce pas?
And as an open challenge to any of them or anyone to come after them:
If you want me to come see you perform, you better appear in one of our
regularly scheduled opera productions. Otherwise, you can plant a nice
wet baccio where neither of us will enjoy it. Well, I won't, anyway.
WW
Team OS/2 Cincinnati & PROUD OF IT!
(and Cincinnati Opera subscriber & PROUD OF IT!)
Dale
Hey, Wild Willy, don't hold back... tell us how you really
feel!! I've heard that you teamers get excited easily, :-)
Yeah, I think all the glitter and appeal of the 3 tenors
is about over. It seems Pavarotti has always had an appeal
to the non-opera-going crowd. I know he was good (if not
the best) in his day, but I don't think any other opera
singer has ever had that effect on the public before. But
everything I read these days indicates he's got having
problems vocally now. And you can throw all the stones you
want, I have never liked Carreras, but you are probably right
about public sentiment in his having apparently "licked" the
dreaded leukemia.
I rather enjoyed their first appearance, so I bought the
video. Now, since those that followed have more or less
been more of the same, I would rather just watch the video
when they sounded better.
--
Dale Erwin - OS/2 Supporter
Erwin Technology Corporation
der...@ibm.net
(972)394-2051