OP1850. LA GIOCONDA, Live Performance, 3 Jan., 1953, w.Cleva Cond. Zinka Milanov, Kurt Baum, Leonard Warren, Cesare Siepi, Fedora Barbieri, Jean Madeira, etc.; La Gioconda - Excerpts, Live Performance, 3 March, 1945, w.Cooper Cond. Stella Roman, Frederick Jagel, Leonard Warren, Bruna Castagna, Margaret Harshaw, etc. (Portugal) 3-Gala 100.637. - 8712177054855

“Ready and willing, [Milanov] offers what is perhaps the most emotional, fully committed performance of her long broadcast career….As Milanov fills Ponchielli’s churning lines with splendid arcs of sound, the heroine’s pain and sorrow are fully exposed – the soprano, too, has opened her heart to us. One expects Milanov to soar grandly over the third-act choral mass, but more welcome is the wide dynamic range of her singing, especially in the final act….’Suicidio’ is a flamboyant example of her art. As seems appropriate to the theatre, the reading is more expansive than in her celebrated recording….in the abandon of her portrayal she flirts with danger throughout the afternoon….Milanov and Gioconda are one….Gioconda looms as the ultimate image of her stage persona and vocal manner.” - Paul Jackson, SIGN-OFF FOR THE OLD MET, p.153