The lovely operatic diva Mirella Freni would have been 95 years old last week. She was widely lauded throughout her 50-year career for her near-perfect bel canto soprano voice, specialising in roles such as "Mimi" in Puccini's La Boheme and "Juliette" in Gounod's Romeo et Juliette, rather than the more dramatic coloratura roles that many of her mid-20th century contemporaries chose to tackle.
Perhaps for this reason, her name is less familiar to the world outside the operatic milieu than, say, Dame Joan Sutherland or Montserrat Caballe. She should be better-remembered, in my opinion, as these examples of the lady's estimable talents demonstrate:
Beautiful.
Mirella Freni (born Mirella Fregni, 27th February 1935 – 9th February 2020)
