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| Due to copyright laws and strict newspaper/magazine policies, I am unfortunately unable to reprint full articles on this site. However, below I have posted a number of tantilizing quotes from various reviews that are sure to please Milnes fans. Enjoy! |
| ... Milnes is a big, strapping fellow. He walks with relaxed grace. His gestures are big, his words carefully chosen and spoken with authority. When asked to describe his own singing, he spread his arms, then brought his hands together behind his head, gazed into the distance for a brief moment, then leaned forward and focused upon his interviewer. "I'm a repertory singer, a Romantic, in terms of sound. Age changes some things -- my voice might be less flexible than it was, but possibly deeper. I think I have more colors available. As anyone becomes older, he becomes more profound. All the things that happen to us in life -- children, the death of a loved one -- make us better interpreters." -- Tom Strini, March 1995 Milnes is a commanding figure on stage. Tall and handsome, with the poise and presence of a skilled actor and performer, he uses a minimum of gestures and facial expressions, yet is able to communicate every nuance of emotion expressed by the texts of his music. His voice is magnificent. Brilliant at the top, powerful in the middle and full at the bottom, there isn't a note throughout his considerable range that doesn't sound rich, warm and true. He can produce infinite and subtle varieties of color and inflection in every range, from the dramatic and powerful fortissimos to the colorful and intimate pianissimos. -- Richard Devinney, Oct. 1991 After wowing an audience of about 2,000 with arias from Verdi's Don Carlo, Otello and Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte and Gounod's Faust, all of which brought a standing ovation, Milnes lifted maestro Roger Nierenberg's baton and, for an encore, conducted Verdi's La Forza del Destino [overture] to rousing applause and sang Mozart's "Champagne" aria. ... It was easy to see why Milnes has been ranked as the world's pre-eminent operatic baritone for more than 25 years. He was by turns magnetic, glamorous, commanding, powerful and vocally brilliant. -- Jonathan Rogers, Oct. 1992 ... the role of Falstaff suits [Milnes] beautifully. He has a radiant vocal sheen one doesn't normally associate with the hard-drinking, buffoonish old Falstaff, who believes he can romance married women out of their money. However, Falstaff has a noble past, and that's splendidly reflected in Milnes' still-lustrous voice... Milnes sings with greater literacy than before and commands the stage with a new sense of physical restraint. -- USA Today |