FAMOUS CROATS '17 - Z.KUNC

Zinka Kunc Milanov, a soprano and one of the greatest Prima Donnas Croatia has ever had, was born in Zagreb on May 17th, 1906 where she completed her education and received her degree in singing from the Academy of Music. She was tutored by Jan Ourednik, Milka Trnina and Marija Kostrenčić. She held her first independent concert in Zagreb in 1925, and made her opera stage debut in Ljubljana in 1927 in the role of Leonora in Verdi’s opera Il Trovatore. From 1929 to 1936 she was the Prima Donna of the Opera at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb. During this first decade of arts, she played twenty seven roles and performed in a string of concert programs giving her maturity in terms of art that she later used to take on the world. Her leap into the international career first took her to the New German Theatre in Prague, and in 1937 she debuted at the New York’s Metropolitan Opera House. There, with a short break, she delighted the crowds for twenty nine seasons with the unique beauty of her voice and interpretation. She played many roles that earned her the title of the “Queen of the Metropolitan” and she was the absolute crowd favourite. She also made many guest appearances at many great world stages, such as the Vienna State Opera, the Covent Garden, Teatro alla Scalla in Milan … In 1966 she said “goodbye” to the opera stage, but continued to work in the field of pedagogy. She perfectly mastered her dramatic soprano that was strong and expressive in all positions, with an incredible expressive ability even in the smallest of tones. She spoke of the daily work sacrifices that were crucial to success and to achieving results in the field of arts, of careful studies, of exact compliance with musical notes and “how it was important to know how to distribute one’s own temperament preventing it from running wild”. Impeccably conscientious and endlessly dedicated to her work, at the twilight of her life, she was able to assess her most famous role with a lot of professional confidence: "Everything is written in Il Trovatore, you just have to sing beautifully." In 1984 she was awarded with a special medal in the USA for her work as one of 87 prominent people of foreign descent for their contribution to New York and the United States. In 1986 she visited Zagreb for the last time. She passed away in New York on May 30th, 1989. Erika Krpan