Costa Milona
3 February 1897 Keratea – 27 March 1949 London
Konstantinos (Kostas) Mylonas was born in Keratea (an area just east of Athens, Greece) on February 3rd, 1897.
His father Stamatis and his mother Eugenia were illiterate and very poor farmers. His father died while Kostas was still a child,
and so Kostas was sent to work for a French mining company in Plaka, outside nearby Lavrion. A man named Kiriakidi heard him
singing and sent him to the Athens Conservatory, paying also for his board and lodging. He remained at the conservatory from 1908
to 1918, studying Byzantine church music, singing and drama.
Mylonas made his first stage appearance not as a singer but as an actor in two plays produced by the Drama School of the
conservatory, in March 1917, "Medea" and "Gynecomachia" by playwright Legouvé. One month later, in April 1917, he started
appearing in student concerts, in some of them accompanied by Dimitri Mitropoulos at the piano.
He graduated in June 1920 with "excellent" grades both in "singing" and "history of music". Before the year was over, he left
Greece and never came back to his home country.
He went to Italy, most probably directly to Milan. It was there that he studied with maestro Giuseppe Borghi. It was in Milan,
too, that he had a love affair with Eugenia Montrasio, the wife of a hard-drinking and cruel Italian. Kostas and Eugenia had
three children: Mariuzza, Constantino and Eugenia.
About 1922/23, Mylonas established himself in Berlin, where he made all his records for German companies such as Parlophon,
Homocord and Vox, from 1922 to 1945, under the name Costa Milona.
Very little is known of his artistic career. This is the only mistake in Mr.
Dzazópulos' great article on Milona: on the contrary, everything is known on his career, mostly by Dzazópulos himself
– it's all here below. That was Milona's career, there's nothing missing here. He was basically a recording artist, a
pretty successful "Pocket Caruso", and
just occasionally singing on stage or in concert. In February 1923 he appeared at the Grand-Théâtre in Monte
Carlo, singing in "Tristan und Isolde" both the Sailor (as "Costa") and the Shepherd (as "Milonas"). After that there is a
nine-year gap without any information on his artistic activities. See above: no gap in our
knowledge, but simply a gap in his stage activity.
There is an appearance at the Vienna Staatsoper in "Bohème" on 22 March 1932. From
1938 to 1940, he gave a few performances at the Vienna Volksoper (Riccardo, Canio and Rodolfo), and on 2 December 1940, he
participated prominently in a concert with Italian opera arias at the Vienna Musikverein. Kutsch and Riemens also have him sing a
Verdi Requiem in 1932 in Vienna, but don't say where, and since it was definitely not at the Musikverein, the Konzerthaus or the
Staatsoper, I'm not convinced it's true.
In 1934, we have a concert for K.R.O. radio station in Holland with the Amsterdam Symphony
Orchestra conducted by Henri van Goudoever.
It seems that he also worked in Berlin as a singing teacher from 1935.
On 24 and 26 June 1938, there are two "guest" performances at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, as Rodolfo in "La bohème", and on
29 June another guest appearance as Canio in "Pagliacci".
There are unconfirmed performances in Frankfurt an der Oder during the period 1937 to 1942.
On 20 July 1944, there was a recital in Strasbourg, and in 1944/45 recording sessions of spoken records for Grammophon that
remained unpublished. Those recordings require more in-depth evaluation. The 1945 series
was published, while the 1944 series "remained unpublished", yes, in the sense that there are no catalogue numbers; but I wouldn't
overestimate it since those recordings were intended for radio broadcasts, and that they were not assigned
catalogue numbers doesn't mean they were not used the way they were meant to. Milona worked for the Nazi shortwave (i. e.
international) radio as a Greek commentator, and he also worked for the Nazi afterwork organization "Kraft durch Freude".
Those two series of recordings are the most disgusting Nazi propaganda ever made by any operatic artist (and that's saying
something!): no music here, only spoken text (in Greek), dripping with anti-semitic and anti-communist hate, as already the
Stürmer-style titles betray. Anti-communist resentment was specifically aimed at Greece, where the communist
resistance against the Nazis had a considerable following.
His last artistic activities seem to have been some concerts in Berlin, in 1946. In June 1946 he notified the Berlin police that
he was going to leave the country. He was penniless and received some money from a certain Mrs. Young, a fairly rich, elderly
lady who had lived in Berlin and had been Milona's close friend and confident for 13 years but was now living in London.
On June 8th, 1946 the Greek tenor left for London where he met Mrs. Young. All his possessions were packed in a single old and
torn suitcase. In spite of Mrs Young's generosity his condition did not improve. In April 1948, he wrote to an old Greek friend,
Giorgios Lambrou who lived in Tucson (Arizona): "I have been brought to ruin by the war".
For me, there's no doubt that the reason why he was so broken and crushed was his former affiliation with the Nazis: not only had
his heroes catastrophically lost the war, but stood before all world as the dregs of history. But his own nature was also
to blame
for his ruin. Mrs. Young later told his daughter Eugenia: "If he made 500 marks, he would send 200 to his children and 200 to
his mother." Mr. Lambrou sent him 500 Dollars, which were found in an English bank account to his name, after Milona's death.
He was so poor that Mrs. Young ordered a suit and a coat for him, but he did not live to wear them. On March 27th, 1949 Costa
Milona died of heart disease and was buried at the Hendon Park Cemetery-Crematorium, London, grave n° 62.259. The 500
Dollars covered only part of the funeral expenses. Mrs. Young paid the rest. His grave bears the following inscription in
English:
Costa Mylonas/In memory of my dearest friend/The Greek tenor
and below, in German:
Was ich in dir verloren/weiß nur mein Herz allein
(What I have lost in you/My heart alone knows)
REFERENCE: George Leotsakos: "Greek Lyric Theatre 100 Years 1888-1988", Greek Ministry of Culture, Athens 1988 (English version unpublished)
REFERENCE: Stathis Arfanis private archive
Juan Dzazópulos
In RA format
In RA format
Discography
Parlophon, Berlin, 4 April 1922
2-5815 La bohème: Che gelida manina unpublished
2-5816 La bohème: Mimì è una civetta unpublished
2-5817 La fanciulla del West: Ch'ella mi creda unpublished
2-5818 L'elisir d'amore: Una furtiva lagrima P1631
Parlophon, Berlin, 5 April 1922
2-5819 Tosca: Recondita armonia P1630, E10135
2-5820 Tosca: O dolci mani P1630, E10135
2-5821 Tosca: E lucevan le stelle P1482, E10081
2-5822 La favorite: Spirto gentil P1631
Parlophon, Berlin, 8 April 1922
2-5839 La Gioconda: Cielo e mar P1482, E10081
2-5840 Faust: Salve, dimora unpublished
Parlophon, Berlin, 24 May 1922
2-5903 Rigoletto: Questa o quella P1380
2-5904 Rigoletto: La donna é mobile P1380
2-5905 Rigoletto: Parmi veder le lagrime unpublished
2-5906 Cavalleria rusticana: O Lola, bianca come fior di spino P1629, E10193, 5906
2-5907 Pagliacci: Vesti la giubba P1530
Parlophon, Berlin, 9 June 1922
2-5940 L'Africaine: O paradiso P1394
2-5941 Les pêcheurs de perles: Mi par d'udir ancora P1394, 5941
2-5942 La traviata: Dei miei bollenti spiriti P1530
2-5943 La bohème: Che gelida manina unpublished
2-5944 La bohème: Mimì è una civetta P1629, E10193
Homocord, Berlin, 11 June 1924
51610 Ideale (Tosti) unpublished
51611 Jocelyn: Nascosti in quest'asil 51611, B8535
51612 Les pêcheurs de perles: Mi par d'udir ancora unpublished
51612-1 Les pêcheurs de perles: Mi par d'udir ancora unpublished
Homocord, Berlin, 16 June 1924
51610-1 Ideale (Tosti) B8531
51613 La Gioconda: Cielo e mar unpublished
51613-1 La Gioconda: Cielo e mar unpublished
51514 Die Königin von Saba: Magiche note 51614, B8534
51514-1 Die Königin von Saba: Magiche note 51614, B8534
51616 Un ballo in maschera: Di' tu se fedele 51616, B8534
Homocord, Berlin, 17 June 1924
51613-2 La Gioconda: Cielo e mar 51613, B8533
51617 La traviata: Dei miei bollenti spiriti unpublished
51617-1 La traviata: Dei miei bollenti spiriti unpublished
51618 L'Africaine: O paradiso 51618, B8532
Homocord, Berlin, 18 June 1924
51619 Dom Sébastien: Deserto in terra unpublished
51620 Pecchè? (Pennino) 51620, B8531
51620-1 Pecchè? (Pennino) unpublished
Homocord, Berlin, 8 July 1924
51612-2 Les pêcheurs de perles: Mi par d'udir ancora 51612, B8532
51617-2 La traviata: Dei miei bollenti spiriti 51617, B8533
51619-1 Don Sébastien: Deserto in terra 51619, B8535
Homocord, Berlin, 20 August 1925
51871 Pagliacci: O Colombina B8667
51871-1 Pagliacci: O Colombina B8667
51872 I puritani: A te, o cara B8676
51873 Rigoletto: Parmi veder le lagrime B8668
51874 Il trovatore: Ah sì, ben mio B8667
51875 La bohème: Che gelida manina unpublished
Homocord, Berlin, 25 August 1925
51899 Cavalleria rusticana: Mamma, quel vino B8674
51900 Ave Maria (Kahn) unpublished
51900-1 Ave Maria (Kahn) B8675
51901 Martha: M'apparì B8675
51902 Faust: Salve, dimora B8676
51903 Manon: Ah dispar, vision unpublished
Homocord, Berlin, 10 September 1925
51875-1 La bohème: Che gelida manina B8668
51903-1 Manon: Ah dispar, vision B8674
Vox, Berlin, May 1926
2743A Les pêcheurs de perles: Mi par d'udir ancora unpublished
2743½A Les pêcheurs de perles: Mi par d'udir ancora 03570
2744A Martha: M'apparì 03569, H010247
2745A La forza del destino: Solenne in quest'ora 04177, H010248
(w. Athanasiu)
2746A La Gioconda: Cielo e mar 03570
2755A Mefistofele: Giunto sul passo estremo 03571
2756A Les huguenots: Bianca al par 03572, H010218
2757A Otello: Sì pel ciel (w. Athanasiu) 04177, H010231
2758A Andrea Chénier: Come un bel dì di maggio 03571
2759A Aida: Celeste Aida 03572, H010247
2760A Faust: Salve, dimora 03569, H010231
Vox, Berlin, June 1926
3262B Fedora: Amor ti vieta 3573
3263B Il trovatore: Di quella pira 3573
Vox, Berlin, October 1927
1728AA Addio, mia bella Napoli (Cottrau) unpublished
1728-1AA Addio, mia bella Napoli (Cottrau) 03657E
1729AA Santa Lucia (Cottrau) 03657E, Kristall 06004
1730AA Élégie (Massenet) unpublished
1730-1AA Élégie (Massenet) 03661E, Kristall 06004
1731AA Un ballo in maschera: Di' tu se fedele 03663E, Kristall 06035
1732AA I puritani: A te, o cara 03669E
1733AA La traviata: Dei miei bollenti spiriti 03669E, Kristall 06003, Kristall 06035
1734AA Lolita (Buzzi-Peccia) 03661E
1735AA Il trovatore: Ah sì, ben mio 03663E, Kristall 06003
Vox, Berlin, December 1927
2143BB Mefistofele: Dai campi, dai prati 3659E
2143-1BB Mefistofele: Dai campi, dai prati H10285E, Kristall 6039, Cristal 5065
2144BB Pagliacci: Vesti la giubba 3659E, H10285E
2144-1BB Pagliacci: Vesti la giubba Kristall 6039, Cristal 5065
Parlophon, Berlin, 11 June 1928
2-20812 Un ballo in maschera: Di' tu se fedele unpublished
2-20812-2 Un ballo in maschera: Di' tu se fedele P9316, P67567, E10802, 58506, Odeon O-6991
2-20813 Werther: Ah non mi ridestar P9316, E10802, 58506
2-20814 L'Africaine: O paradiso P51017, E10888, Odeon AA68098
2-20815 Mefistofele: Dai campi, dai prati P9315
Parlophon, Berlin, 13 June 1928
34948 Mattinata (Leoncavallo) unpublished
34949 Jocelyn: Nascosti in quest' asil Odeon A164366
2-20816 La forza del destino: O tu che in seno unpublished
2-20816-2 La forza del destino: O tu che in seno P9315
20817 Les pêcheurs de perles: Mi par d'udir ancora unpublished
2-20818 Rimpianto (Toselli) Beka 36499
2-20819 Ideale (Tosti) E10888, Beka 36670
Parlophon, Berlin, 31 October 1928
36498 Lolita (Buzzi-Peccia) B17537
36498-2 Lolita (Buzzi-Peccia) unpublished
36499 Rimpianto (Toselli) B12026
36600 Santa Lucia (Cottrau) B17535
36601 Vieni sul mar (composer unknown) B17535
Parlophon, Berlin, 5 November 1928
36662 Addio, mia bella Napoli (Cottrau) unpublished
36664 Élégie (Massenet) B17537, Odeon A164365
Parlophon, Berlin, 6 November 1928
34948-2 Mattinata (Leoncavallo) B17534, Odeon A164366, Odeon A16457
36665 Caro mio ben (Giordani) B17536, 28054
36666 Pecché? (Pennino) B17536, 28054, Odeon A16436
Parlophon, Berlin, 7 November 1928
36670 Ideale (Tosti) B12026
36671 Maria, Marì (Di Capua) B17534, Odeon A164572
2-20817-2 Les pêcheurs de perles: Mi par d'udir ancora P51017, E10853, DPX7, Odeon AA68098
2-21068 Carmen: Il fior che avevi a me tu dato unpublished
2-21068-2 Carmen: Il fior che avevi a me tu dato unpublished
2-21069 Cavallleria rusticana: O Lola, ch'ai di latti P67567, E10853, DPX7, Odeon O-6991
Parlophon, Berlin, 18 March 1929
101000 To alanaki (Thanou) B21517
101001 Karava anigi ta ftera (Lavrangaas) B21518
101002 Despo (arr. Skalkottas) B21519
101003 Manna kai yios (Samaras) B21518
101004 To matia tou dimou (arr. Lavdas) B21520
101005 I gynaika tou dromou: Kardia pou apo agapi orfani B21521
Parlophon, Berlin, 19 March 1929
101006 Ramona (Wayne) B21517
101007 Kardia pisti (= Vertrautes Herz) (Barthélemy) B21522
101008 Markos Botsaris: O gero dimos B21519
101009 Pos pantrevoun tin agapi mou (arr. Lavdas) B21521
101010 Giati? (Xanthopoulos) B21522
101011 Diamantoula mou (arr. Skalkottas) B21520
Parlophon, Berlin, 20 June 1929
101012 Den tacho ta filia sou (Papadimitriou) B21525
101013 Glyko mou agapi (Naltsas) B21524
101014 Min papsis, tsiganopoulo (Tountas) B21525
101015 I proti agapi: I kardia tis manas B21526
101016 Tango tou chorismou (Naltsas) B21523
101017 I gynaika pou skotoni (Naltsas) B21523
Parlophon, Berlin, 21 June 1929
43316 Tosca: Recondita armonia B17025
43317 Tutto ritorna (Pessina) B17024, B7669
43317-2 Tutto ritorna (Pessina) unpublished
43318 L'ultimo bacio (Tosti) B17025, B7669
43319 Core 'ngrato (Cardillo) B17024
101012-2 Den tacho ta filia sou (Papadimitriou) unpublished
101015-2 I proti agapi: I kardia tis manas unpublished
101018 Nanourisma (Samaras) B21524
101019 Bohemiki agapi (Chatziapostolou) B21526
Parlophon, Berlin, 19 June 1930
119049 La Gioconda: Cielo e mar B7793
119050 Madama Butterfly: Addio, fiorito asil B7794, 29527
119050-2 Madama Butterfly: Addio, fiorito asil unpublished
119051 Tosca: O dolci mani B7794, 29527
119052 La favorite: Spirto gentil B7793
2-84080 La bohème: Mimì è una civetta unpublished
2-84081 La traviata: Dei miei bollenti spiriti unpublished
Parlophon, Berlin, 20 June 1930
119053 Maria, Marì (Di Capua) unpublished
119054 Pecché? (Pennino) B12339
119055 Addio, mia bella Napoli (Cottrau) Odeon O-25851
119056 Santa Lucia (Cottrau) Odeon O-25851
Parlophon, Berlin, 21 April 1931
101700 Psichi ponemeni (Sougioul) unpublished
101701 Sterni kantada (Statheros) B21596
101702 Du bist mein Mascottchen gewesen (Stolz) unpublished
Parlophon, Berlin, 12 May 1931
101703 Dos'my ta cheili sou (= Cara bambina) (S. Perosi) unpublished
101704 Nina mou (= Nina mia) (Beltrán) unpublished
101705 Paola (Herapoulou) B21597
101706 To tango tis theatrinas (Heropoulos) B21595, B21597
Parlophon, Berlin, 15 May 1931
101707 Oh latrefti mou (= O meine Traumfrau) (Brodszky) B21596
101708 To paramythitis (= Das Märchen von Glück) (Stolz) unpublished
101709 Einai mia melodia (= Kind, dein Mund) (Hollaender) unpublished
Funk-Stunde A.G., Berlin, 17 February 1932
Bln2011707 Manon: Ah dispar, vision Bln2011707
Bln2011708 La Gioconda: Cielo e mar Bln2011708
K. R. O. (radio glass discs), Hilversum, 12 April 1936
Aida: Celeste Aida unnumbered
Tosca: Recondita armonia unnumbered
Cavalleria rusticana: O Lola, ch'ai di latti unnumbered
Carmen: Il fior che avevi a me tu dato unnumbered
All above recordings with Utrecht State Orch., cond. H. van Goudover.
Luisa Miller: Quando le sere al placido unnumbered
Les pêcheurs de perles: Mi par d'udir ancora unnumbered
Manon: Ah dispar vision unnumbered
Rigoletto: La donna é mobile unnumbered
All above recordings with Fred Boshart, piano.
Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft, Berlin, April 1940
KWS59036 Ton nymfoma sou vlepo/Ta pathi ta septa 59036
(w. Kallinikos and Livas)
KWS59037 Idu o nymfios erchete (w. Kallinikos and Livas) 59037
KWS59038 Ton nymfoma sou vlepo (w. Kallinikos and Livas) 59038
KWS59039 Erchomenos o kyrios/Nymon patroon makaristi 59039
(w. Kallinikos and Livas)
KWS59040 Simeron kremate epi xylu, pt. I 59040
(w. Kallinikos and Livas)
KWS59041 Simeron kremate epi xylu, pt. II 59041
(w. Kallinikos and Livas)
All above are Byzantine psalms.
Grammophon/Polydor, Berlin, 4 September 1944
57-GZ10 Das Gesicht Judas unpublished
58-GZ10 Bolschewistische Volksverdummung unpublished
59-GZ10 Die Judenherrschaft in der UdSSR unpublished
60-GZ10 Touristen in der UdSSR unpublished
61-GZ10 Heirat und Scheidung in der UdSSR I unpublished
61-GZ10 Heirat und Scheidung in der UdSSR II unpublished
63-GZ10 Kindererziehung in der UdSSR unpublished
64-GZ10 Die Komintern im Iran unpublished
65-GZ10 Sport in der UdSSR I unpublished
66-GZ10 Sport in der UdSSR II unpublished
67-CZ10 Religion in der UdSSR unpublished
All above are spoken Nazi propaganda records in Greek, for radio broadcast.
Grammophon/Polydor, Berlin, 19 January 1945
10395-GD9 Lernen Sie Deutsch sprechen 2894
10396-GD9 Eine Parade der Prominenten 2892
10397-GD9 Wohnungskultur in Deutschland 2896
10398-GD9 Fussballerinnerungen 2890
10399-GD9 Bücherfreundschaft 2891
10400-GD9 Man darf nicht prahlen 2893
10401-GD9 Die Arbeit macht das Leben süß 2895
All above are spoken Nazi propaganda records in Greek.
Sources for the discography: Gesellschaft für historische Tonträger, Wien;
78opera.com (alas defunct); Juan Dzazópulos
I wish to thank Richard J. Venezia for the recording (Trovatore).
I wish to thank Alkis Magdalinos for the recording (Pêcheurs de perles).
I wish to thank Juan Dzazopulos for the updated discography.
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