Milva

Life and career

Early life and career beginnings

Maria Ilva Biolcati was born in Goro, Province of Ferrara, Italy, on 17 July 1939. In 1959, when she was twenty, she won a contest for new voices, and was named the overall winner from more than seven thousand six hundred participants. In 1960 she recorded her first 7" single with Cetra Records: Édith Piaf's song "Milord", included on her first LP release, 14 Successi di Milva (Cetra, 1961). Her live debut was on the stage of the Sanremo Music Festival in 1961, where she took third place.

1960s

In 1962 Milva was the first singer to sing Édith Piaf's repertoire at the prestigious Olympia theatre in Paris. In 1983 she performed the repertoire at the venue again, receiving an ovation from the audience and the French press, very surprised how a non-French artist could interpret the songs of Piaf with such feeling and energy. Music critics named her singer of the year.

Shortly afterwards, Milva released her second LP record, Milva canta per voi, a studio album that compiled several songs previously published as singles, in addition to covers of Édith Piaf songs, such as Non, je ne regrette rien, translated to Italian as Nulla rimpiangerò, and Et maintenant, written by composer Gilbert Bécaud and lyricist Pierre Delanoë (a song which, in English, would later become known as What Now, My Love?").

In 1962, Milva co-starred in the Italian film La bellezza di Ippolita alongside Gina Lollobrigida and Enrico Maria Salerno, a comedy film directed by Giancarlo Zagni, playing the role of Adriana. The film was entered into the 12th Berlin International Film Festival. In the same year, she also appeared in the film Canzoni a tempo di twist, an Italian film directed by Stefano Canzio.

In February, Milva participated in the Sanremo Musical Festival of 1962, competing with Tango italiano, a jazz-infused song written by Bruno Pallesi and Walter Malgoni. Her performance earned her second place in the competition and the single that followed reached number one on the Italian charts.

From 30 April to 4 May 1963, Milva was a television presenter on the Italian variety show Il Cantatutto.

Shortly after, Milva released her third LP record Da Il Cantatutto con Milva e Villa, in which she performed studio versions of the songs she had sung on Il Cantatutto. In the album, she performed Quattro Vestiti, composed by Ennio Morricone, a song which would be released on an EP by the same name. Milva also recorded an EP for the Spanish market: Milva canta en español.

Later in the year, she released her fourth studio album Le Canzoni del Tabarin – Canzoni da Cortile, an Italian-language album that covered Italian songs from the 1920s and 1930s, featuring new musical arrangements, released on the Fonit Cetra label.

1970s

1970 saw the release of the studio album Ritratto di Milva, an Italian-language featuring orchestrations composed and conducted by Detto Mariano, infused with pop and chanson elements.

In September 1970, Milva performed concerts at Sankei Hall, in Tokyo, Japan, accompanied by Nobuo Hara and his big band, the Sharps & Flats. Excerpts of the recordings of the concerts were compiled and published on the live album Milva on Stage (Live at Tokyo Sankei Hall), released shortly thereafter on the Ricordi label.

In 1971, Milva released Milva canta Brecht, an album of music written by Bertolt Brecht and music composed by Hanns Eisler and Kurt Weill, directed by Giorgio Strehler.

In 1972, Milva appeared in the Italian film D'amore si muore, directed by Carlo Carunchio, starring in the role of Leyla. She also covered the title song of the movie, titled "D'amore si muore", a song composed and conducted by Italian composer, conductor and orchestrator Ennio Morricone with lyrics written by Carlo Carunchio and Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, which was included in her album Dedicato a Milva da Ennio Morricone, released in the same year. Following Milva's appearance in D'amore si muore, Ennio Morricone dedicated a series of songs from his film scores to Milva for her to sing lyrics to. The collaboration between the two musicians produced the studio album Dedicato a Milva da Ennio Morricone (Dedicated to Milva by Ennio Morricone), an album that featured music entirely written, composed, orchestrated and conducted by Morricone in which Milva covered twelve of his works, such as "Chi mai", "La Califfa", and the bossa nova infused "Metti, una sera a cena".

During the same year, Milva released a Japanese-language album, Love Feeling in Japan, containing twelve songs sung entirely in Japanese, released on the Ricordi label. She then released the live album Milva in Seoul in South Korea, accompanied by the Korean Broadcasting System Symphony Orchestra. It includes her singing "Barley Road" in Korean.

1972 additionally saw the release of her compilation album La filanda e altre storie.

In 1973, Milva collaborated with French composer Francis Lai, the output of their work resulting in the studio album Milva & Francis Lai – Sognavo Amore Mio, which was directed and orchestrated by Lai. Amongst the ten Lai compositions covered by Milva in the album were A Man and a Woman (Un homme et une femme) and Love Story. Milva also duetted with Lai on the song Oltre le colline.

1980s

In 1980, Milva released the studio album, Attends, la vie, a French language album featuring songs composed by Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis, whose orchestrations were arranged by Italian composer Natale Massara. The album was released on the RCA Victor label in France, and on Metronome label in Germany. Milva had already worked with Mikis Theodorakis two years earlier, when she recorded Von Tag zu Tag and La Mia Età.

1980 also saw the release of La Rossa, a studio album featuring songs written and composed by Italian composer Enzo Jannacci. The album was released in Italy, Germany and Argentina. The title song, La Rossa, was released on the single La rossa/Quando il sipario and would come to be considered Milva's signature song. In the course of the same year, Milva released the multilingual compilation album Milva International which she sang in English, French, Spanish, Italian and German. It was released in Germany.

1981 saw the commencement of a collaboration between Milva and Greek composer Vangelis, with whom she has collaborated on several occasions. The 1981 collaboration would result in the release of both a French and a German language album. The first, sung in German, was Ich hab' keine Angst. It was released in Germany, Austria, Japan and South Korea, and produced the German 7" single Ich hab' keine Angst/Christine. The title song, Ich hab' keine Angst, is based on Vangelis' composition To the Unknown Man, a song which, in French, would become the title of her next album of 1981, Moi, je n'ai pas peur, which was released in France, and covered the songs included on the German release.

In 1982, Milva starred in the role of Veronica in the Italian film Via degli specchi, a crime-drama film directed by Giovanna Gagliardo. The film was entered into the 33rd Berlin International Film Festival. Later in the year, Milva released the German studio album Immer mehr, as well as the live double album Das Konzert. The album was released in Germany, Austria and Japan.

In 1983, Milva hosted an episode of the Italian variety show Al paradise, a television series directed by Antonello Falqui. That same year, Milva released the Italian language studio album Identikit, distributed in Italy under the Metronome label. She collaborated with Vangelis for the album, covering two of his songs; To the Unknown Man, this time recorded in Italian under the title Dicono di me, as well as an Italian language version of I'll Find My Way Home. Later that year, she released the studio album Unverkennbar, an album sung entirely in German. In 1984, the single Vielleicht war es Liebe/Eva was released in Germany. 1983 additionally saw the release of the original cast recording of the German ballet chanté Die sieben Todsünden der Kleinbürger (The Seven Deadly Sins [of the Petty Bourgeoisie]), which had been recorded in Berlin in January 1981. The cast recording featured all nine movements of the musical in which Milva had starred two years earlier, in the leading roles of Anna I and Anna II. In 1990, the album was re-released in Japan.

1990s

In 1990, Milva returned to the Sanremo Music Festival for the first time since 1974, this time competing with Sono felice, a song written and composed by Rosalino Cellamare, finishing in 4th place. On 3 October 1990, Milva released the German language studio album, Ein Kommen und Gehen. The album contained pop/rock ballads and a cover of Udo Lindenberg's Ein Kommen und Gehen, which was also released as a single. For the album, Milva collaborated with German songwriters and composers Udo Lindenberg, Peter Maffay, Udo Jürgens, Herbert Grönemeyer, Heinz Rudolf Kunze, Roland Kaiser and Tony Carey. The album was produced by German producers Edo Zanki and Vilko Zanki and was considered a success.

The following year, on 27 September 1991, Milva released the studio album Gefühl und Verstand, an album containing pop/rock ballads sung in German.

In 1992, Ich weiß es selber nicht genau and Mein Weg mit dir, two singles recorded by Milva, were released in Germany.

In 1993, Milva released the studio album Uomini addosso, which was released in Italy, Germany, Japan and Spain. The title track of the album, Uomini addosso, was presented by Milva at the Sanremo Music Festival. Two songs from the German and Japanese editions of the album, Se ti va and Le ombre del giardino, written by G. Conte and Natale Massara, were used as the opening and closing theme songs of the 1993 Italian mini television series Private Crimes (Delitti privati).

Later in the year, she starred as the protagonist in the acting and singing role of Zazà, in the Italian musical La Storia di Zazà (The Story of Zaza), a stage musical directed by Giancarlo Sepe and produced by the Comunità teatrale di Italia, premiering on 26 October 1993, at the Teatro Nuovo di Milano. An original cast recording of the musical was produced and an album was released as Milva in La Storia di Zazà, with music composed by Stefano Marcucci and lyrics written by Giancarlo Sepe, on the Hollywood Records (Italy) label. The album, however, only saw a limited release.

In 1994, Milva collaborated on the promotional album Milva in Café Chantant, a studio album featuring Café-chantant-inspired songs recorded in studio by Milva in Italian and Napolitan, with music arranged by Italian film composer and arranger Natale Massara. The musical release was part of the promotional Café chantant volumes distributed to the public by the Italian coffee manufacturer Lavazza. The overall theme of the album was coffee, with songs arranged and presented in a belle époque and nuevo tango style. In the album, Milva performs Édith Piaf's 1956 song Les amants d'un jour in Italian language as Albergo an Ore, with lyrics translated by Herbert Pagani, a song Milva had once recorded in 1970 for her album Canzoni di Édith Piaf, and interprets Venezuelan composer Hugo Blanco's Moliendo café with Italian lyrics, in addition to 'A tazza 'e café, a song made famous by Claudio Villa, in Napolitan language. The album concludes with Milva's EuroPop song Im Schatten der Träume, a song she had previously released on her 1991 German album Gefühl und Verstand.

2000s

In 2001, Milva released the German studio album Artisti, in which she performed songs in German, Italian, Spanish and Latin. The album was released and distributed by BMG Ariola. In the album, she covered Julio Iglesias' "Abrázame", a Spanish language pop standard rewritten with German lyrics, titled Komm halt mich Fest, as well as an Italian-language cover of John Denver's Perhaps Love. She also performed Da troppo tempo, a song which she had previously recorded in Italian and competed with at the Sanremo Music Festival of 1973, finishing in 3rd place, this time in German. In Spanish, she sang Yo soy María, a song from Ástor Piazzolla's tango opera María de Buenos Aires. In Latin and Italian, she performed the classical aria Ave Maria, arranged and given to her by Ástor Piazzolla before his death.

In the same year, Milva released La chanson française, a studio album sung entirely in the French language, revisiting and covering songs from the French popular music repertoire originally composed and performed by Charles Aznavour, Gilbert Bécaud, Jacques Brel and Édith Piaf, some of which Milva had previously recorded in French, Italian and German at different points throughout her career. The album featured symphony orchestrations composed by Hubert Stuppner and performed by the Haydn Orchestra of Bolzano and Trento, under the conductorship of Peter Keuschnig. The album was first released in Italy on the Agorá label and then reissued on the Accademia Crossover label in 2004.

In 2004, Milva released the studio album Sono nata il 21 a Primavera – Milva canta Merini, an Italian-language album featuring the poetry of contemporary Italian poet Alda Merini, whose poetry was set to music composed by Italian singer and composer Giovanni Nuti and interpreted by Milva in sung form. The album was subsequently released in Japan and Germany.

In May of the same year, Milva performed Milva canta Merini, a series of recitals at the Teatro Stehler di Milano of the Piccolo Teatro di Milano, in collaboration with Alda Merini and Giovanni Nuti, in which Milva performed the songs from her album Sono nata il 21 a Primavera, released earlier that year. Milva again performed a concert at the Teatro Strehler di Milano in 2005, a performance that was recorded and released on the live DVD Milva canta Merini – Live, in March 2006.

In 2006, Milva was awarded the Grand Cross 1st Class of the Bundesverdienstkreuz, the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland) by the then President of the Federal Republic of Germany Horst Köhler, in "recognition and appreciation of her extraordinary career and artistry in Germany". The medal was personally presented to her by German President Horst Köhler on Thursday, 2 June 2006.

Personal life

Milva had a daughter, Martina, born during her marriage to Maurizio Corgnati in the early 1960s.

She also dated film star Luigi Pistilli for four years; Pistilli committed suicide.

On 23 April 2021, Milva died at her Milan home.

Discography

Albums

Milva / Villa – Concert in Japan (1968)

Milva on Stage – Live in Tokyo at Serkey Hall (1970)

Milva in Seoul (1972)

Canzoni Tra Le Due Guerre (1978)

Das Konzert (1982)

Milva & Ástor Piazzolla – Live at the Bouffes du Nord (1984)

Das Beste Milva Live (1988)

Milva Dramatic Recital '92 (Best Live in Japan) (1992)

Milva Dramatic Recital '92 – Canzoni tra le due guerre (Al Tokyo Metropolitan Art Space) (1992)

El Tango de Ástor Piazzolla live in Japan (1998)

Lili Marleen – Best live in Japan (1992)

Live and More (1988, Milva Collectors' Club, limited edition album)

Milva & Ástor Piazzolla – Live in Tokyo 1988 (2009)

Milva canta Brecht (Live) (2010)

Angeli in bandiera (1969, with Gino Bramieri)

Die sieben Todsünden der Kleinbürger (1983)

The Threepenny Opera (1989) as Pirate Jenny

La storia di Zaza (1994)

Hommage à Ástor Piazzolla (with Tangoseís) (2000)

Songs

Source:

Sanremo Music Festival

This is a list of Sanremo Music Festival contests which Milva entered. Milva participated 15 times in the annual music festival, tying the record for most participations (as of 2023) with Al Bano, Anna Oxa, Peppino di Capri and Toto Cutugno.

NOTE: N.F. signifies that the song did not qualify for the main event.

Filmography

Honours

Chevalier of the National Order of the Legion of Honour of the French Republic — Paris, 11 September 2009

Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic — Rome, by President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano, 2 June 2007

Officer of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany — Berlin, 2006

Officier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres — Paris, 1995