# Mirella Freni RIP



## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Just come in the news that the great soprano Mirella Frei has died

https://slippedisc.com/2020/02/just-in-mirella-freni-is-dead/

Truly wonderful singer with a lovely sound.


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## MAS (Apr 15, 2015)

RIP Mirella! I had the good fortune to see her on stage at the San Francisco Opera a few times during her heyday as a lyric soprano, and towards the autumn of her career when she was trying out some _spinto_ roles like Manon Lescaut and Tatyana in _Eugene Onegin_, and she always delivered a great performance. Physically, she always seemed young, and her voice remained quite fresh, which allowed her to sing the ingénue roles well into her 50s.


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## Sieglinde (Oct 25, 2009)

What a great Mimi, Elisabetta and Amelia Grimaldi...


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

Very sad news, one of the greats. I admit I wasn't that big a fan of hers when I first started listening to opera, but she grew on me a great deal, and is now among my favorite recorded artists. Unlike many, I prefer her recordings from the late 70s and 80s when her voice darkened and her artistry grew as she matured.


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## Duncan (Feb 8, 2019)

*Link to complete CD - *

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nkWoLTzAnuR6dpm8tfhZxQgmEDKZsfF5w









*Link to complete CD:*

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k_AvAYTXVGpc-stKGUlo9H9SGKizt88hQ


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## Revitalized Classics (Oct 31, 2018)

A lovely artist - horrible to lose that generation and all the enjoyment they brought.

It's so surreal that she is gone: when all you've had to savour of the artist are her records, it is like her cute Suzel and youthful Mimi, her gorgeous Amelia and Desdemona are preserved in time, forever young.

Her live record of Boheme with Pavarotti and Schippers from 1969 is a gem if you haven't had a chance to hear it.

RIP


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## Open Book (Aug 14, 2018)

She had a distinctive voice, I think I would know it anywhere. I can't pick out the owners of most operatic voices, only a few.
I liked her Susanna (Mozart's Marriage of Figaro recording with Colin Davis).


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

She was my very first favorite soprano, over both Sutherland and Tebaldi. In fact she sounded very much like Tebaldi to me.
She had such a sweet and gentle face and brought much pleasure to the opera world. R.I.P.


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

Oh no. I loved her immensely in my younger days. Such a fresh, healthy, sunny voice and such a non-diva, she would just show up and sing gloriously. I would seek her out for many different roles and still have those CDs today. Her _La Bohème_ with Pavarotti is my second-favorite opera recording ever, save for the de los Angeles/Björling wonder.

RIP cara amica.

Giorgio


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Two astounding performances with Pavarotti and Karajan


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## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Revitalized Classics said:


> A lovely artist - horrible to lose that generation and all the enjoyment they brought.
> 
> It's so surreal that she is gone: when all you've had to savour of the artist are her records, it is like her cute Suzel and youthful Mimi, her gorgeous Amelia and Desdemona are preserved in time, forever young.
> 
> ...


Couldn't agree more about the live Boheme. It's stunningly good. It's about nine dollars at OperaDepot if anyone is interested.


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

A great singer.

Sit tibi terra levis.


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## Rangstrom (Sep 24, 2010)

I was lucky enough to catch her in La Boheme (with her husband Ghiaurov) at the Lyric Opera many years ago. She was on her goodbye tour and it was a lovely performance.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Her 1968 recording of Mascagni's _L'Amico Fritz_ with the fresh-voiced Pavarotti is probably not going to be equaled. Were it not for the miraculous old recording of the cherry duet with Schipa and Favero I'd probably think of it as definitive.


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## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

A couple of clips from what I think is her career highlight, the 1983 Met Don Carlo with Levine, Domingo, Quilico, Bumbry and Ghiaurov. I don't know of a better performance of Elizabeth on record or video.






(can't find this one without the score added)


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

howlingfantods said:


> A couple of clips from what I think is her career highlight, the 1983 Met Don Carlo with Levine, Domingo, Quilico, Bumbry and Ghiaurov. I don't know of a better performance of Elizabeth on record or video.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


If only she had sung in the later Karajan DVD instead of what's her name ....Izzo D'Amico


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## Phantoms of the Opera (Feb 5, 2020)

I've loved her since I saw this masterclass a few years back. She wouldn't let those students get away with anything! Who is left now like her? She will be missed.


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## Duncan (Feb 8, 2019)

Woodduck said:


> Her 1968 recording of Mascagni's _L'Amico Fritz_ with the fresh-voiced Pavarotti is probably not going to be equaled. Were it not for the miraculous old recording of the cherry duet with Schipa and Favero I'd probably think of it as definitive.











*Link to complete CD - *

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kLsL9dYFX5du0q82OgnYQzTOkOibuBtHY


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

One cannot believe this though:

https://slippedisc.com/2020/02/bad-...-mirella-freni-with-picture-of-deborah-voigt/


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## Barelytenor (Nov 19, 2011)

Some Italian _giornalisti _should be shot ...


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

We watched this last night, such a great acres/ singer.


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

_Reposting from the Song of the Day thread by request of *Rogerx*_

*"Un bel dì, vedremo"
from Madame Butterfly 
Giacomo Puccini*

Italian operatic soprano *MIRELLA FRENI* passed away February 9, 2020 at the age of 84.

Here she is in 1974 with *Herbert von Karajan* conducting the *Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra*.

Try not to cry as she sings the last lines.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

> Mirella Freni (1935-2020)
> by Katherine Cooper
> 
> Mirella Freni
> ...


Very nice  Obituary, by Katherine Cooper from Presto Classical


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Does anyone have or remember this? The Met Opera Guild sold it in the early 2000's (there may still be copies on Amazon):








It has a lot of Freni's recordings from the 1960's on it.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

DavidA said:


> One cannot believe this though:
> 
> https://slippedisc.com/2020/02/bad-...-mirella-freni-with-picture-of-deborah-voigt/


If they had accidentally posted a picture of_ Renata Scotto_, I'd kind of understand it (weren't Freni and Scotto often mistaken for each other back in the late 1960's and the 1970's)?


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## Revitalized Classics (Oct 31, 2018)

Bellinilover said:


> If they had accidentally posted a picture of_ Renata Scotto_, I'd kind of understand it (weren't Freni and Scotto often mistaken for each other back in the late 1960's and the 1970's)?


J B Steane wrote that Scotto, Moffo, Freni, Sciutti all came to prominence to around the same time and might be confused since they were all singing light soprano roles and he acknowledged they were quite different when you got to know their singing better.


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## Bellinilover (Jul 24, 2013)

Oh, yeah! I do remember that line from THE GRAND TRADITION.


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## Revitalized Classics (Oct 31, 2018)

Bellinilover said:


> Oh, yeah! I do remember that line from THE GRAND TRADITION.


That's the one - I enjoy that book. It's an interesting snapshot.

It covered 1900-1970, published in '74. Therefore, Steane couldn't know that eventually only Sciutti would stick to the lighter rep they shared, that Moffo's career challenges had been imminent and recovery was going to be difficult, that Scotto would be singing Gioconda and Lady Macbeth within the decade and that Freni had about thirty more years left on stage!


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## Palimpsests (Feb 16, 2020)

......deleted......


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## Palimpsests (Feb 16, 2020)

Freni at her freshest and most charming, as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro (Glyndebourne 1962):


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

If I had ever had to name my favorite opera singer (of any voice type) -- and, sadly, I never had to; nobody has ever asked me such a thing -- I would immediately have responded with the name Mirella Freni. She was the embodiment of vocal beauty, in my opinion. I was saddened to hear of her death.

I returned to one of my favorite discs in homage to her voice and her character: the Decca recording 417 577-2, Puccini's Madama Butterfly with Pavarotti, Ludwig, Kerns, the Wiener Philharmoniker conducted by Herbert von Karajan, and, of course, Mirella Freni in the title role. I've never been a big fan of Karajan recordings, but this is one I treasure. To admit that my favorite operatic moment remains the love duet in _Butterfly_ leads me to confess that the "Bimba dagli occhi..." of this recording ranks as my top choice. I've heard many _Butterflies_ but have never been as moved by the love duet as in this recording.









And her other work is excellent, too.

A great loss to opera, to music, and to humanity. Rest in peace, dear Mirella. But be assured that your voice shall continue to ring triumphantly in my listening room, as long as I have ears to hear. There are few sounds as glorious.


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