# Who is the soprano?



## SBartner (Jun 1, 2013)

I'm hoping someone on this forum can help me. My Uncle recently sent me the link to this American Airlines commercial hoping I could identify it:






I knew it was Puccini and it didn't take me long to determine it was "Mi Chiamano Mimi" from La Boheme.

But this wouldn't satisfy him--he wanted to know the soprano's name. He presumed a portrait painter like myself would--by default--be an opera aficionado. Yeah, right.

I know various sopranos on Twitter and Facebook but no one could identify who the singer was. The one said Georghiu, the other Scotto. A friend of mine who spends his life traveling to great opera houses said it was Mirella Freni. Then he changed his mind.

If someone on this forum can give me a definitive answer as to the singer's identity, I will be eternally grateful.

Scott


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## Roland (Mar 13, 2013)

Well, Scott, you've had about eighty people look at your question, and so far, no replies. I wish I had the answer to your question, I don't.

Like you said, it's easy to determine that it is an excerpt of "Mi Chiamano Mimi" from La Boheme. However, I'm wondering if American Airlines wanted to do away with copyright legalities and the necessity of paying royalties. I'm wondering if the company hired a soprano to sing expressly for this commercial. After all, she stops singing in the middle of her aria and the orchestra continues to play. I'm wondering if this soprano is not (yet) on any commercial recording of La Boheme.

Perhaps the best thing to do is complement your uncle on his musical taste. Tell him that, as a portrait painter, you can speak to artistic taste and she has an attractive voice. Then admit that you can't identify her and none of your artistic friends could either. Then add that your friends compared her voice favorably to such famous sopranos as Georghiu, Scotto and Freni.


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## SBartner (Jun 1, 2013)

Roland, I think you're right on the money concerning copyright legalities and royalties. After my post here, I wrote American Airlines regarding the soprano half expecting a response. What I got was a vague reference to the World Philharmonic Orchestra. Being the dutiful nephew I wrote the WPO who responded curtly they have never recorded music for an American Airlines commercial. 

Thank you Roland for your response and to the 80 others who took the time to play the video.


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