American Aria: From Farm Boy to Opera Star

Milnes, Sherrill, American Aria: From Farm Boy To Opera Star

In this unassuming autobiography, Milnes tells of his childhood on a small dairy farm near Chicago, his early musical education in public schools and a career that advanced smoothly from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chorus to Boris Goldovsky's workshop at Tanglewood, performance tours, lucrative voice-over jobs, the New York City Opera, a successful debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1965 and subsequent rise to fame as one of opera's great baritones. The book is replete with anecdotes about singers, conductors, directors, audiences, accompanists, critics and the pitfalls of performing in operaAdangerous sword fights, falling sets, fires on stage, getting locked in a bathroom just before an entrance. But these and even accounts of his three marriages are all a bit bland, perhaps because Milnes, who comes across as unusually modest for an opera star, seems to try to avoid offending anyone. The final chapters are the most effective, for in them he movingly describes "a decade of panic," when broken capillaries in his vocal cords made each performance a nightmare of uncertainty and ended his career at the Met, which unceremoniously phased him out after 32 years as one of its leading lights. A chronology of key dates in Milnes's career, a summary of his performances at the Met, a discography and more than 50 b&w photos are included.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Autobiographical fluff for opera aficionados interested in knowing a bitbut not too muchabout the life of one of America's popular baritones. Just as baritones never win the woman in operas, they rarely get the attention afforded tenors. Who has ever heard of a Three Baritones concert? Milnes's autobiography attempts to right that wrong regarding his own life. He begins with his experiences as a farm boy outside Chicago. Milnes was a relative latecomer to serious vocal music study. He began in high school, although hed been studying violin and singing in his mother's church choir since elementary school. By his college years, it was clear that music also lay in Milnes's future. He auditioned for parts in regional opera groups, such as Boris Goldovsky's Opera Theatre, and gradually made his way to the Metropolitan Opera, where he sang regularly for just over 30 years. During that period, which included appearances in operas around the world and an extensive recital schedule, Milnes sang with many of the best, including Luciano Pavarotti, Joan Sutherland, Placido Domingo, and Beverly Sills. Unfortunately, though, this meandering book is rather short on details. Meandering how? A page about the teenage Milnes heading off to a brothel is followed by several paragraphs on the trials of having a ``girl's'' first name. As for the absent details, his two failed marriages are dismissed in a we-grew-apart sentence or two. Comments on colleagues are fairly superficial and do little to shed light on the world behind the opera curtain. The author has included a performance chronology of his debuts and key performances, as well as a discography. What could have been Wagnerian in scope ends up instead as the literary equivalent of a Top 40 tune. (50 illustrations) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

When one thinks of Verdi baritones, one thinks of Milnes. Growing up on a farm taught him habits of hard work that he carried into his singing career. Boris Goldovsky's traveling opera company gave him his first paying job in 1960, and Milnes worked his way up through regional companies to join the Metropolitan Opera in 1965. Through short recollections of significant events in his personal life (two divorces, three marriages, three children) and his singing career (operas and recitals), Milnes weaves a bittersweet story. He tells some delicious stories about his colleagues, his adventures in Europe, audiences, recitals, famous people (at recitals in the White House), and his experiences at performances (late entrances, wounds, etc.). Quite recently, Milnes burst some capillaries in his vocal cords. Treatment of the problem permanently scarred them, and he left the Met in March 1997, when his contract was not renewed--that is the bitterest part of his story. Humor, commentary, advice, and revelation all augment this easily read story of a farm boy who made it to the Met. Alan Hirsch

Milnes was considered the successor of such famous American Verdi baritones as Lawrence Tibbett and Leonard Warren. Tall, handsome, and blessed with a smooth legato and a voice of remarkable beauty, he was in demand all over the world throughout the 1970s. Born in Downers Grove, IL, he grew up working on the family farm?singing while he drove a tractor or milked the cows. The story of his journey from the farm to the great opera stages of the world should be more compelling than it is here, but Milnes lacks the gift of storytelling that could invigorate the wonder and drama inherent in such a life. Still, there are the expected backstage anecdotes, many involving famous conductors and singers, and he is touchingly honest about the demands of performing and discusses both the vocal difficulties he experienced in the 1980s and his painful break with the Metropolitan Opera. Recommended for larger public libraries.?Kate McCaffrey, Onondaga Cty. P.L., Syracuse, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.