Milva

Milva - born Maria Ilva Biolcati on July 17, 1939 in Goro, Italy - was a singer, actress and television personality. She is best known for the 1982 song “Alexander Platz”. Milva appeared on a total of 173 releases - including studio albums, compilations, and live releases - and sold 80 million units during her career. Milva began studying singing at the age of 16 and performed in nightclubs under the pseudonym Sabrina. In 1959, she won a singing competition organized by the RAI and recorded her first single as Milva the following year: - a cover of Edith Piaf’s “Milord”. She came to prominence when she appeared at the Sanremo festival and performed "Il Mare Nel Cassetto". She released a series of classic albums including 14 Successi di Milva (1961), Canti Della Libertà (1965) and Un Sorriso (1969), becoming one of the pillars of the Italian song, which earned her the nickname ‘the Panther of Goro’ for her vitality. She diversified her musical repertoire by including then-current material from various genres such as folk, gospel and tango. Milva became popular in Europe and Asia thanks to her ability to sing in several different languages including Japanese, French, Korean, Greek, and German. Milva collaborated with many different artists including Ennio Morricone in 1965, Mikis Theodorakis in 1978 and 1979 (on the albums Von Tag Zu Tag and La Mia Età) and Vangelis, who provided the instrumentation for the album Tra Due Sogni (1986). In 1982, Milva released the single “Alexander Platz”, which was composted by Italian songwriter Franco Battiato. The song, which dealt with love during the Cold War, was a hit and had become one of the best-loved songs of her nearly 50 year career. Due to ill health, Milva retired in 2010. She died on April 23, 2021, at the age of 81.