RESOUNDING ECHOES: From August 2022, Robert McCarney's regular series features little-known twentieth century classical composers.
Serbian soprano Milka Stojanović was born in Belgrade on 13 January 1937. After initially studying world literature, she studied singing at the La Scala Opera School in Italy with Zdenka Zikova and in New York City with Croatian soprano Zinka Milanov.
From 1959 until retiring in 1993 she sang with Belgrade Opera, appearing as Abigaille in the first Yugoslav production of Verdi's Nabucco. She also sang Odabella in Attila and the title role in Bellini's Norma.
She began to sing internationally in 1962, first with Belgrade Opera at the Edinburgh Festival and later in Oslo and Lausanne. She also appeared with Graz Opera in 1962, at Vienna State Opera from 1970, and she sang at Bavarian State Opera, Cologne Opera, at the Liceu in Barcelona, Hamburg State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin and Teatro dell'Opera di Roma. She sang at New York Metropolitan Opera from 1967 and also as a guest at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.
Milka Stojanović died in Belgrade on 1 September 2023, aged eighty-six.