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)
+ Vera gran dama dell’opera.
ReplyDeleteCantava al Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, conosciuto da un pubblico molto critico, e l’amavano. :) Continuò la tradizione del bel canto non solo cantando ma anche insegnando bel canto nella sua scuola di Vignola. Negli anni ‘90 Freni amplia il suo repertorio includendo lo stile Verismo.
She was apparently a stern teacher! Jx
DeletePS I may not be an expert, but isn't "verisimo" the style of opera being performed (e.g. the works of the "realists" such as Mascagni, Puccini and Leoncavallo) rather than the style of singing the parts within it (e.g. coloratura, lyric, soubrette, and so on)?
I have always loved her voice and yes she should be better remembered and her recordings get more airplay than they do.
ReplyDeleteCome on Radio 3; buck your ideas up !
Hear, hear! Jx
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