Milva

Milva, curiously unknown to most Americans, is an enduring phenomenon in Europe. Milva, real name Maria Ilva Biolcati, was born in 1939 and had already been a popular singer in her native Italy for 15 years when she first met Piazzolla in 1979. According to the Azzi and Collier book, Le Grand Tango, Milva was largely responsible for Piazzolla's early European popularity as a result of a 1984 joint tour viewed by 200,000. You will find early video of Milva performing with Piazzolla on YouTube and you will also find today's video where Milva, at the age of 70, is still enthusiastically performing his music. This video, which has the look of a pirate video filmed surreptitiously from the balcony - so watch soon, it may disappear, shows Milva performing in Vienna just three days ago. If you enjoy this you may enjoy a second performance the same night and an undated performance on Polish television which was also posted to YouTube this week.

Milva and Piazzolla were a classic combination. It is good to see Milva continuing and we can only wish that it was Piazzolla today on the bandoneon in this quintet.

If the video does not appear below, click here.



To learn more about Piazzolla videos, visit the Piazzolla Video site.