# Varnay on Milanov and Milanov Talks



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Milanov doesn't get much love here but I love beautiful singing and she certainly dished it out. I just got a pristine vinyl edition of her 52 Aida with Bjorling and she is vocally resplendent. I listened to interviews in the car this morning of Varnay on Milanov and then with Milanov on singing. . What was notable was how deep their speaking voices were. Milanov spoke like a tenor and Varnay like a baritone. One was Varnay on Milanov. She said Milanov was very jealous of certain roles but Varnay said she had a right to be, particularly in Forza where she was so brilliant. They quoted someone who asked Milanov to explain the story of Forza and she said, " How should I know? I only sing one role". Varnay said Milanov would go through the motions onstage when she wasn't the center of attention but would come alive in her arias. Varnay was in an opera with Milanov who was Santuzza. In rehersal she was standing in a spot where Milanov was to enter. Milanov saw her and said in her deep commanding voice,"Varnay, vhy are you here?". Varnay thought to herself Dear Lord what can I say!!!! She said " I am here to learn" to which Milanov proceeded to show her about and accepted her. Then I listened to an interview on technique with Milanov, who was a complete master of vocal technique. On piano singing the Diva said you must be born with it but you must use it correctly and support support support. She said you cannot be a good opera singer without good legato. She said you must also have a good forte up top if you are to be effective at piano singing but you must not force. When asked about her wonderful low voice in Suicidio she said you must use your chest down low but you mustn't open up the voice or you will loose your top notes and the voice will get hard. Asked about singers losing their voices early she said she started 5 years earlier than most singers at 20 but up till 35 you can rely on your youth. After 35 you must rely on technique and if it is not secure the voice will fail. There are sometimes, particularly after 55 when she could sometimes sound like a parrot, but mostly it was a trememdously beautiful voice used with great skill.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

If you had heard tenors speak, you would hear them speak lightly and up high, on the breath, as if In head voice.
As for Milanov, to my ears, she sounds like an old woman (or “matronly,” that cardinal sin in female singers). Varnay speaks like a whiskey drinker, or a smoker)


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## tsquare07 (Sep 22, 2018)

Callas sounds like a man and Di Stefano sounds like a bass in this one


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

tsquare07 said:


> Callas sounds like a man and Di Stefano sounds like a bass in this one


They were hardly at their best or in good voice at that point in their career. I don’t remember hearing di Stefano speak when he was singing regularly, but certain tenors like Domingo, Corelli, Ermanno Mauro, Pavarotti usually spoke high in their palate. I don’t recall how sopranos spoke, except Eva Turner, who was being interviewed and sounded like very chesty.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

tsquare07 said:


> Callas sounds like a man and Di Stefano sounds like a bass in this one


And you sound like everyone else these days! Comply mad!!!

Insane I tell you, totally off the wall bonkers! Every last one of you!!!

N.


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## tsquare07 (Sep 22, 2018)

The Conte said:


> And you sound like everyone else these days! Comply mad!!!
> 
> Insane I tell you, totally off the wall bonkers! Every last one of you!!!
> 
> N.


i don't know if this is directed at me or not, since english is not my first language. Or is this an inside joke? Or an insult? And what's wrong with sharing that video?


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

tsquare07 said:


> i don't know if this is directed at me or not, since english is not my first language. Or is this an inside joke? But what's wrong with sharing that video?


I don't think anything is wrong with sharing the video. You just misunderstood.


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## tsquare07 (Sep 22, 2018)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I don't think anything is wrong with sharing the video. You just misunderstood.


So explain to me what he said. Who sounds like everyone these days? Who's mad?


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

tsquare07 said:


> So explain to me what he said. Who sounds like everyone these days? Who's mad?


I think he was being silly. Nothing more or noting less. Not serious at all.


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## tsquare07 (Sep 22, 2018)

Seattleoperafan said:


> I think he was being silly. Nothing more or noting less. Not serious at all.


Yeah. That's why i asked him if that's a joke or not. Again english is not my first language.


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

tsquare07 said:


> Yeah. That's why i asked him if that's a joke or not. Again english is not my first language.


As BBSVK has found out you can know English vocabulary but not certain phrases or figures of speech that are part of the culture but the meaning can't be gotten just from the words.


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## tsquare07 (Sep 22, 2018)

Seattleoperafan said:


> As BBSVK has found out you can know English vocabulary but not certain phrases or figures of speech that are part of the culture but the meaning can't be gotten just from the words.


Yes i'm aware of that. A phrase can take on a completely different meaning than the individual words that make up the phrase. That's why i asked if that's directed or me or it's just a joke. If it's the latter then i still have no idea what it means.


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## BBSVK (10 mo ago)

tsquare07 said:


> Yes i'm aware of that. A phrase can take on a completely different meaning than the individual words that make up the phrase. That's why i asked if that's directed or me or it's just a joke. If it's the latter then i still have no idea what it means.


It is very weird and @The Conte left a similar message under my other thread. I do not remember him doing this other time. Or does he do that, and I am here for too short a time ? Did somebody, by chance, hack his account ?

Edit: Or, maybe, alcohol is a simpler explanation. There are many Christmass parties lately.


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