Sheril Milnes American opera singer, one of the best baritones in the world Date of Birth: 10.01.1935 Country: USA

Biography of Cheryl Milnes

Cheryl Milnes was an American opera singer and one of the world's finest baritones. He was born on January 10, 1935 in Downers Grove, Illinois. Milnes studied vocal performance and various instruments at Drake University in Iowa and Northwestern University. It was at Northwestern University where he first participated in opera productions.

In 1960, Milnes was accepted into the "New England Opera Company" under Boris Goldovsky. He received his first major role as Gerard in Umberto Giordano's opera "Andrea Chénier" at the Baltimore Opera House in 1961. In 1964, Milnes made his European debut as Figaro in Gioachino Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" at the Teatro Nuovo in Milan.

In 1965, he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in the role of Valentin in Charles Gounod's "Faust" and subsequently became the leading dramatic baritone in the Italian and French repertoire of the theater. Milnes' Verdi repertoire includes roles such as Amonasro in "Aida," Rodrigo in "Don Carlos," Don Carlo in "La Forza del Destino," Miller in "Luisa Miller," Macbeth in the eponymous opera, Iago in "Otello," Rigoletto in the eponymous opera, Germont in "La Traviata," and Count di Luna in "Il Trovatore."

Among Milnes' other opera roles are Riccardo in Vincenzo Bellini's "I Puritani," Tonio in Ruggero Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci," Don Giovanni in Mozart's opera, Scarpia in Giacomo Puccini's "Tosca," as well as roles in rarely performed operas such as "Hamlet" by Ambroise Thomas and "Henry VIII" by Camille Saint-Saëns.