If you like your soprano to
be clear, youthful, and able to carry the sound rather than pressing
it, Mirella Freni has the vocal chords of your choice.
Mirella Freni
Ms Freni was born Mirella Fregni on February 27, 1935, at
Modena in northern Italy.
The music fairies decided that
Modena should be blessed twice. Thus, a little bit later, on
October 12, 1935, Pavarotti enriched the city with a first
sample of his vocal abilities.
Thirty-seven years later, it
came to this:
Freni and
Pavarotti at a Rehearsal for La Boheme, Berlin 1972
Decca
Mirella Freni is the woman
Giacomo
Puccini could only dream of. Unfortunately for him,
Puccini died in 1924.
Freni's voice was the reason why
Karajan
threw his conducting sticks into the corner and told his instruments to just
follow the lady's lead. And rightly so.
The result?
A symphonic orgasm, which you can
purchase labeled as Puccini's Madame Butterfly with
Mirella Freni, Christa Ludwig (delivers an incredible Suzuki), Luciano Pavarotti and Herbert von
Karajan — the out of this world version.
After the performance, the
gods came down and kissed Ms Freni on the lips. And that is exactly
how it happened.
And if you are up for another cardiac arrest caused by
bliss, check out Freni set opposite Elizabeth Harwood's
Musetta in La Boheme.
Absolutely fantastic.
Here is a brief excerpt of a Mirella Freni
interview with English subs. She speaks about Verdi's Don Carlo at
the Salzburger Festspiele with Karajan.
And here is another Mirella Freni interview. Speak
Spanish, it helps.
And one more from 1978. Vincenzo
Bellini's Norma. A fabulous Renata Scotto as Norma and Mirella Freni as
Adalgisa.
FRENI, PAVAROTTI,
MILNES - TOSCA
Pietro Mascagni, brilliant Italian
artist (1863-1945), who composed away while being overshadowed by Puccini, wrote
another piece which Freni and Pavarotti turned into shier delight:
L'amico Fritz (1891.)
Greco-Persian Wars
Also called the
Persian Wars, the Greco-Persian Wars were
fought for almost half a century from 492 to
449 BC. Greece won against enormous odds. Here
is more:
