Zinka Milanov was a Croatian-born soprano, one of the great dramatic sopranos of the twentieth century and a central Metropolitan Opera artist.

In the Pristine catalogue she appears extensively in Verdi, Puccini, Mascagni and Leoncavallo, often with Jussi Björling, Leonard Warren, Robert Merrill and other major Met and RCA artists.

Milanov’s singing combined amplitude, floating line and a radiant upper register, making her one of the classic Verdi sopranos of the recorded era.

Her page is essential. Milanov gives the opera shelf a soprano column of velvet, gold and formidable breath.