Miliza Korjus was leading coloratura soprano in the 1930s and 40s who made the U.S. home for most of her professional career, but never performed on stage there. Besides her career as a recitalist, she's largely remembered for her role in The Great Waltz, a biopic of Johann Strauss, Jr., for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 1938. She's reputed to have had a large voice, but it sounds relatively small on this Lebendige Vergangenheit release. She was legendary for her stratospheric ...
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Miliza Korjus was leading coloratura soprano in the 1930s and 40s who made the U.S. home for most of her professional career, but never performed on stage there. Besides her career as a recitalist, she's largely remembered for her role in The Great Waltz, a biopic of Johann Strauss, Jr., for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 1938. She's reputed to have had a large voice, but it sounds relatively small on this Lebendige Vergangenheit release. She was legendary for her stratospheric coloratura, which is amply on display in these selections, most of which are waltzes by Johann Strauss, Jr., (sung in English), around which she embroiders a dazzling display of vocal fireworks. In her upper register she does have remarkable facility, accuracy, and security, but her voice tends to get chirpy and hard-edged in its highest reaches. That tendency is least pronounced in the three selections from The Great Waltz, which are genuinely charming. In general, though, her...
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