Tamara Milashkina

Tamara Andreyevna Milashkina (née Mirnenko; ; 13 September 1934 – 10 January 2024) was a Russian lyric and dramatic soprano. A member of the Bolshoi Theatre from 1958 to 1989, she also appeared at La Scala in Milan, throughout Europe and at the Metropolitan Opera. She focused on roles by Tchaikovsky such as Lisa in Pique Dame and Tatyana in Eugene Onegin. She was the first Soviet soprano to be trained at the studio of La Scala in Milan, and her Italian repertoire included Verdi's Leonora in Il trovatore, Elisabetta in Don Carlo and Aida, and Puccini's Tosca.

She often appeared alongside her husband, the tenor Vladimir Atlantov, on stage and in recordings. She made many recordings, including less frequently performed Russian operas such as Tchaikovsky's The Oprichnik and Rimsky-Korsakov's The Noblewoman Vera Sheloga, and videos of Dargomyzhsky's The Stone Guest, Rimsky-Korsakov's Sadko, and Pique Dame.

Life and career Tamara Andreyevna Mirnenko was born in Astrakhan on 13 September 1934. Milashkina studied there with . conducted by Gianandrea Gavazzeni.

Milashkina appeared at the Vienna State Opera from 1971 first as Lisa, with great success, She performed as Tosca at the Opéra de Paris in 1969, and both Tosca as Tosca also at the Opéra de Paris. and in Pique Dame conducted by Yuri Simonov. The New York Times music critic Harold C. Schonberg summarised the effect of this performance of Onegin, writing that "[there] was the special kind of authenticity that only Russians can supply in this singularly beautiful opera". In a 1983 portrait for the Bolshoi Theatre, E. Grosheva wrote: A reviewer from the French newspaper Aurore noted in 1978, when the Bolshoi Theatre toured to Paris: "She slightly resembles Victoria de Los Angeles, but her voice is much more luxurious, warmer, more reverent".

Personal life Milashkina was married to the tenor Vladimir Atlantov; After Milashkina's retirement from the Bolshoi, they lived in Vienna.

Tamara Milashkina died in Vienna on 10 January 2024, at the age of 89.

In 1966, a documentary Волшебница из града Китежа (The Enchantress From the City of Kitezh) was devoted to her art. In 1974 she recorded her most famous role, Lisa in The Queen of Spades (Pique Dame), opposite Atlantov, with Bolshoi forces conducted by Mark Ermler. She recorded Tosca the same year, again with Atlantov and conducted by Ermler; a reviewer noted that she was a "thrilling if unsubtle singer" who lived the role, summarising: "hers is a Tosca to rank with some of the finest". In 1979 she recorded Eugene Onegin, with Yuri Mazurok in the title role and again Atlantov and Ermler; a reviewer wrote that she was "clearly an intelligent artist and compensates for her occasional lack of vocal allure by her identification with a role which suits her voice type". In 1980 she recorded the role of Natalya in Tchaikovsky's The Oprichnik, conducted by Gennady Provatorov. She recorded the title role of Rimsky-Korsakov's The Noblewoman Vera Sheloga in 1985 in another Bolshoi production conducted by Ermler. She also recorded Mazeppa, and the soprano solo in Shostakovitch's 14th Symphony. In 1980, a Bolshoi production of Rimsky-Korsakov's Sadko was released as a DVD, with Atlantov, Milashkina and Irina Arkhipova, conducted by Yuri Simonov. She appeared as Lisa again in a 1983 DVD recording of Pique Dame from the Bolshoi, conducted by Simonov, with Mazurok, Atlantov and Elena Obraztsova as the Old Countess.

Awards Milashkina's awards included:

International competition within the framework of the VI World Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow (1957, first prize)

Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1971) People's Artist of the USSR (1973) Order of Lenin (1976) Glinka State Prize of the RSFSR (1978) – for her performance as Dona Anna in the opera The Stone Guest by A. S. Dargomyzhsky