Opera Singer. Called "The Berlin Nightingale", she was a leading coloratura soprano of 1930s Europe and later had an American film and concert career. Born to a Russian Army officer of Estonian nationality and a mother related to the Polish nobility, she was raised in Kiev and later in Moscow following the breakup of her parents' marriage during the Russian Revolution of 1917. Having had some musical training in Kiev she toured Russia with the Dumka Choir until she was able to escape and rejoin her father in Estonia where she studied with Barbara Malama. Miliza began her professional career in the late 1920s and in 1933 joined the Berlin State Opera where she earned her nickname. In Berlin she sang German lieder and many of the noted coloratura roles including Gilda in Giuseppe Verdi's "Rigoletto", Violetta from the same composer's "La Traviata", Rosina in Rossini's "The Barber of Seville", The Queen of the Night in Mozart's "The Magic Flute", and the tragic title heroine of Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor". Invited to America Miliza made her silver screen debut in 1938's "The Great Waltz", based on the life of Johann Strauss II, and earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination; while preparing to film "Guns and Fiddles", drawn from the life of Sandor Rozsa, in 1940 a motor vehicle accident severely injured her left leg though she was able to tour South America and Mexico begining in 1941. Returning to the United States in 1944 she performed at Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic and made concert tours for a time before retiring to Southern California. Miliza died of heart failure leaving a fairly large recorded legacy some of which was reprinted on her own label, Venus Records.
Opera Singer. Called "The Berlin Nightingale", she was a leading coloratura soprano of 1930s Europe and later had an American film and concert career. Born to a Russian Army officer of Estonian nationality and a mother related to the Polish nobility, she was raised in Kiev and later in Moscow following the breakup of her parents' marriage during the Russian Revolution of 1917. Having had some musical training in Kiev she toured Russia with the Dumka Choir until she was able to escape and rejoin her father in Estonia where she studied with Barbara Malama. Miliza began her professional career in the late 1920s and in 1933 joined the Berlin State Opera where she earned her nickname. In Berlin she sang German lieder and many of the noted coloratura roles including Gilda in Giuseppe Verdi's "Rigoletto", Violetta from the same composer's "La Traviata", Rosina in Rossini's "The Barber of Seville", The Queen of the Night in Mozart's "The Magic Flute", and the tragic title heroine of Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor". Invited to America Miliza made her silver screen debut in 1938's "The Great Waltz", based on the life of Johann Strauss II, and earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination; while preparing to film "Guns and Fiddles", drawn from the life of Sandor Rozsa, in 1940 a motor vehicle accident severely injured her left leg though she was able to tour South America and Mexico begining in 1941. Returning to the United States in 1944 she performed at Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic and made concert tours for a time before retiring to Southern California. Miliza died of heart failure leaving a fairly large recorded legacy some of which was reprinted on her own label, Venus Records.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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