Sherrill Milnes
The Verdi baritone is almost a vocal type in and of itself. These roles require outstanding breath control as well as the ability not only to sing strong high notes, but to sing for extended periods in the upper part of the baritone range. Milnes had both of these, and for a while even considered a career as a Wagner tenor rather than a baritone. His timbre was not to all tastes, but his vocal gifts, musicality, and powerful stage presence made him the leading baritone at the Met, where most of his career was focused.
He came from a musical family, and his mother was his first teacher. As often happens in such families, he learned to play not only the piano, but many other instruments, both in the string and the brass families. He studied at Drake and at Northwestern University, anticipating a career as a music teacher rather than as a performer, and sang in the Chicago Symphony Chorus under the legendary Margaret Hiller, also playing bass in a jazz band on the side. He also studied for a period with famed soprano Rosa Ponselle, and was an apprentice at the Santa Fe Opera, known for launching new artists as well as works. In 1960, he successfully auditioned for the Boris Goldovsky Opera Company, one of the most renowned touring companies in the United States, and made his opera debut with them as Masetto in Mozart's Don Giovanni. He remained with them for five years, singing many of the major Verdi baritone roles, as well as graduating to the title role of Don Giovanni, and also appearing at other opera houses such as the Baltimore Opera in 1961. In 1964, he appeared at the New York City Opera as Valentin in Faust, and made his Italian debut at the Teatro Nuovo in Milan. The next year he gave his first performance at the Met as Valentin, opposite Montserrat Caballe in her Met debut role. In 1967, he created the role of Adam Brant in Levy's Mourning Becomes Electra. His Vienna State Opera debut in 1970, in the title role of Verdi's Macbeth, brought him to international fame. He made his Chicago debut in 1971 as Posa in Verdi's Don Carlo as well as his Covent Garden debut as Renato in Un ballo in maschera.
During the 1980s, he underwent a vocal crisis, and made relatively few operatic appearances afterwards (having more or less reached retirement age) though he remained active as an oratorio singer and recitalist, as well as a conductor.
His Iago on the recording of Otello with James Levine (BMG GD 82951) verges on being over the top, but is nonetheless one of the most vivid recordings of that role. A recital CD on Decca (443 929) of materials largely from early in his career shows off his fine top notes as well as strong technical facility.
© TiVo
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Discography
20 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Verdi : La Traviata
Ileana Cotrubas, Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, Bayerisches Staatsorchester , Carlos Kleiber
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1977
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Happy Trails
Film Soundtracks - Released by Telarc on 1 Oct 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: La Fanciulla del West
Carol Neblett, Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, Royal Opera House Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1978
Gramophone Record of the Year16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fauré: Requiem; Pelléas et Mélisande; Pavane for Orchestra and Choir
Kiri Te Kanawa, Sherrill Milnes, Choeur de l'Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Charles Dutoit
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Tosca
Mirella Freni, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes, National Philharmonic Orchestra, Nicola Rescigno
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1978
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: La Traviata
Ileana Cotrubas, Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, Bayerisches Staatsorchester , Carlos Kleiber
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1977
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: La Traviata
Ileana Cotrubas, Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, Stefania Malagù, Bayerisches Staatsorchester , Carlos Kleiber
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1977
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Rigoletto
Dame Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes, London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1971
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rossini: The Barber of Seville
Beverly Sills, Nicolai Gedda, Sherrill Milnes, James Levine, London Symphony Orchestra
Opera - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1975
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Don Carlo - Highlights
Plácido Domingo, Montserrat Caballé, Shirley Verrett, Ruggero Raimondi, Sherrill Milnes, Giovanni Foiani
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jan 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ambroise Thomas : Hamlet
Richard Bonynge, Welsh National Opera Chorus, Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera, Sherrill Milnes, Dame Joan Sutherland
Classical - Released by Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd. on 16 Oct 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Tosca - Highlights
Mirella Freni, Luciano Pavarotti, Sherrill Milnes, National Philharmonic Orchestra, Nicola Rescigno
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1979
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart, W.A.: Don Giovanni (Live)
Sherrill Milnes, Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Peter Schreier, Edith Mathis, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Karl Böhm
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1977
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
GRANDI VOCI - SHERRILL MILNES - Una collana dedicata con registrazioni originali Decca e Deutsche Grammophon rimasterizzate con le tecniche più moderne che ne garantiscono eccellenza tecnica e artistica
Sherrill Milnes, Giuseppe Verdi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 30 Apr 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: La Fanciulla del West
Carol Neblett, Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, Royal Opera House Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1978
Gramophone Record of the Year16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: La Traviata
Ileana Cotrubas, Plácido Domingo, Sherrill Milnes, Bayerisches Staatsorchester , Carlos Kleiber
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1977
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninov: Monna Vanna & Piano Concerto No. 4, Op. 40
Classical - Released by Chandos on 1 Dec 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Charles Tomlinson Griffes: Orchestral Works & Songs
Sherrill Milnes, Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Olivia Stapp
Classical - Released by New World Records on 1 Jan 1976
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Walton: Belshazzar's Feast, Coronation Te Deum & Cello Concerto
Alexander Gibson, The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Sherrill Milnes, Ralph Kirshbaum, George McPhee
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on 1 Sep 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Overtures & Arias From Opera
Flavio Becerra, Sherrill Milnes, Orquestra Sinfonica de Mineria, Orquesta Sinfonica De Xalapa, Herrera de la Fuente
Classical - Released by imp on 1 Jan 1994
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo