Aprile Millo.
Aprile Millo "a sensual voice...
......that envelops the listener in a mantel of sensuality, a voice not so much heard as experienced on a physical level" was the praise that greeted her first formal recital by Doug de Lisle for his review. In Spain the same sentiment in ABC Newspapers, " a beguiling mix of the spiritual and the carnal..." "Intense and refined" La Vanguardia, Spain "....a message from the soul rendering yours incapable of resisting. Complete surrender....there is no fourth wall with Millo, you are in this together!" from LA Weekly.
Millo, for as long as she can remember, has wanted nothing else than to follow her family into opera. To go to that world that transfigured her Mother and Father's face. In 1978, two years fresh from graduating Hollywood High School she did. Unanimously winning Primo Premio Grand Prize at the Concorso Voce Verdiane at 20 years old, she was launched onto the operatic scene. An invitation to sing came from a great colleague, mezzo-soprano Gail Dubinbaum, for Elisabeth Schwarzkopf who immediately brought her to sing for the great Maestro Herbert Von Karajan. It set into motion in quick succession an audition for Leone Magiera and Riccardo Muti. There followed her European debut as AIDA in Karlsruhe, Germany and a debut at 24 years old at the famed Teatro alla Scala in Ernani. Arriving at 22 in New York, Maestro Levine discovered her through a walk off audition for Larry Stayer and Charles Riecker, and invited her to become a member of Levine's new Artist in Residence program where she worked exclusively with Maestro Richard Marzolo, who had worked as an assistant of Toscanini at La Scala, and David Stivender, the Mascagni scholar and head of the Metropolitan Opera Chorus. The third diamond in the crown was the disciple of Carbone, the highly respected soprano and singing teacher, and wife of Maestro Giuseppe Patane', Rita Saponaro Patane' who after Millo's Mother and Father, was her only true singing teacher. At 26, stepping in at short notice at the Metropolitan Opera, Millo made her formal debut with her mentor, James Levine and the Metropolitan Opera in a critically acclaimed debut as Amelia in 1984 in Simon Boccanegra. She went on to sing for 14 seasons straight as the leading Verdi soprano of the Italian wing, and last was heard making a role debut in La Gioconda and a return to Andrea Chenier and Tosca in 2006. Over 15 different roles of opera over a nearly 25 year career at the Met.
From there on, colleagues and great singers alike spoke of their delight in her throw back performances to a time when voice reigned supreme above all. Millo sought out, worked with and became great friends to Renata Tebaldi, Zinka Milanov, and Licia Albanese, with Magda Olivero and Beverly Sills. Singing and becoming a favorite in most of the major houses of the world in opera and in recital,from Berlin to Brazil, Hong Kong to San Francisco, Torino, Rome, Verona, Bologna, Barcelona, Seville, Japan and Vienna, Frankfurt and Munich, to name a few, Millo continues to sing and keep the old flame alive.
Passionately devoted to opera, she champions young artists, promotes the arts all over the world, and is keen to bring to light neglected masterpieces of the bel canto period and the scapigliatura period.
Keenly aware of the need to pass on to new generations of singers who are being shoved to the back of the opera world, Madame Millo was approached by Dr. Maria Vetere, who had been asked to help form a summer program for Mime. Millo...they are co-founders of The Operavision Academy which launched first in 2015 in an association with the famed Centro Studi Italiani. It was such an enormous success that the Comune di Busseto, Italy, the Casa Verdi, Casa Barezzi and Foundation Renata Tebaldi-Museo requested they become the Official Summer Program for Verdi's city of Busseto now in its highly acclaimed seventh year. Very grateful for the yearly participation of legendary Maestro Richard Bonynge, and various other guests of operatic royalty.
Miss Millo returned to Opera making her debut as "Giorgetta" in Puccini's atmospheric, IL TABARRO for the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa under the baton of Mo.Donato Renzetti.
Recitals followed with major successes in Citta' della Pieve, a Gala return in Brazil for Theatro Municipal in Rio and in London for a debut recital that met with sold out crowds and rapturous press. In 2018 Millo was awarded the prestigious and highly coveted Verdi D'Oro of Busseto, Italy given in its 46 year history to only 14 singers such as Carlo Bergonzi, Renata Tebaldi, Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, just to name a few. Millo returned to New York in January of 2019 for her debut with the NYCO in Recital to a sold out cheering audience at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall and critical acclaim.
