Giuseppe Millico

Who was Giuseppe Millico?

Vito Giuseppe Millico, called "Il Moscovita" was an Italian soprano castrato, composer, and music teacher of the 18th century who is best remembered for his performances in the operas of Christoph Willibald Gluck.

Millico was born at Terlizzi, near Bari. In 1754, he came to Naples. In 1757 in Rome, he had his first performance as a singer. From 1758 to 1765, he worked in Russia, and then returned to Italy. In 1769, Gluck adapted the role of Orpheus in his Orfeo ed Euridice for Millico to perform at Parma — the original role, composed for the alto castrato Gaetano Guadagni, was transposed up for Millico's soprano voice and the whole opera turned into an act of the celebratory work Le feste d'Apollo. In 1770, Millico sang, in the Vienna revival of Alceste, the originally tenor role of Admetus, which Gluck had specially rewritten for him, and created the role of Paris in the same composer's Paride ed Elena, the last in the trilogy of his Italian reform operas. "Gluck and Millico became firm friends, and Gluck entrusted the musical education of his beloved niece [Marianna] to Millico's care—no small tribute to the singer's musicianship".