Talk:Miliza Korjus

Unenlightening Argument

The claim that the Estonian branch of MK's family was of Swedish descent is relatively meaningless. The branch was primarily of Estonian descent, just one of its very many distant ancestors (the one down the paternal line, where the surname originated) in the 17th century apparently had been a Swede who settled in Estonia. If one Swedish ancestor in the 17th century alone qualifies someone as being of Swedish descent, then probably more than half of the Estonians living today are of Swedish descent, and, for example, pretty much all Estonians are of German descent. Cheers, --3 Löwi 08:50, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

Did MK speak Lithuanian and/or consider herself a Lithuanian-American at any point of time as one of the added categories seems to indicate? --3 Löwi 12:03, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

She was as much Estonian or Lithuanian as she was Polish, Russian, or German. Please remember that before 1927 she lived in Russia. She had to flee Estonia, because she spoke only Russian and German, which was strongly discouraged in this monolinguistic country. --Ghirla^-трёп- 09:29, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

Last sentence, about her "having to flee" from "monolinguistic" Estonia to (polylinguistic and multicultural) Nazi Germany in 1933, is utter nonsense. Cheap shot, Ghirla. One wonders why did you not claim that monolinguistic Estonia had kidnapped her in the first place from another polylinguistic and multicultural haven, Stalin's Soviet Union, in 1927? Cheers, --3 Löwi 10:53, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

It is not true that she was forced to emigrate from Estonia in 1933. As she was unemployed in the country and had to limit her performances to Russian-speaking Narva, she left it as soon as possible. That's why it is so pathetic to hear Estonians praising Miliza as an "Estonian singer". --Ghirla^-трёп- 12:22, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

You have a rather vivid, if not pathetic, imagination. However Wikipedia is not the most appropriate forum for displaying it. Cheers, --3 Löwi 12:35, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

Mystery Solved

So, the Korjus mystery seems to have been solved: her father was Lithuanian and her mother Polish, and she lived until age 18 in Russia, where she grew up. Her German enunciation on recordings always suggested to me that her primary language was something Slavic, but the timbre of her voice was not Slavic in the least. If she ressembles anyone, it would be her exact contemporary, the Finnish coloratura Lea Piltti, (1904-1982).

If it is true that her father was "Chief of Staff to the War Minister of Estonia", that doesn't seem to have persuaded her to linger in Estonia for very long.

She seems to have been active in Germany 1932-1937.

I would be very useful, and highly indicative of what kind of singer she finally was, to have some details of what parts she sang on stage in Germany, and in what companies.

Her German records were made 1934-1936, and show genuine ability as a singer. Her voice may have been light, but she was not simply a Jeanette MacDonald~Kathryn Grayson type.

208.87.248.162 (talk) 16:56, 11 December 2010 (UTC)

Her father was Estonian, not Lithuanian.

208.87.248.162 (talk) 02:03, 9 March 2017 (UTC)

Photo

There is a good photo of Korjus here. Does anyone know how to use it, or move it to the English commons? Thanks. --Kleinzach 12:47, 26 April 2011 (UTC)