Mirella Freni

Template:Short description Template:Good article Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use list-defined references Template:Infobox person Mirella FreniTemplate:Efn Template:Post-nominals (born Mirella Fregni,Template:Efn 27Template:NbspFebruary 1935Template:Snd9Template:NbspFebruary 2020) was an Italian operatic soprano who had a career of 50 years and appeared at major international opera houses. She received international attention at the Glyndebourne Festival, where she appeared as Mozart's Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, and as Adina in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore.

Freni is associated with the role of Mimì in Puccini's La bohème, which featured in her repertoire from 1957 to 1999<ref name="Hastings" /> and which she sang at La Scala in Milan and the Vienna State Opera in 1963, conducted by Herbert von Karajan. She also performed the role in a film of the production and as her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1965. In the earliest opera DVDs, she portrayed her characters convincingly in both acting and singing. Freni was married to the Bulgarian bass Nicolai Ghiaurov, with whom she performed and recorded. Her obituary from The New York Times described her as a "matchless Italian prima donna".<ref name="Tommasini 2020" />

Life

Biography

Born in Modena, she had the same wet nurse as Luciano Pavarotti, with whom she grew up and who was to become a frequent tenor partner on stage.<ref name="Blum" /> She studied voice first with her uncle, Dante Arcelli,<ref name="Kutsch/Riemens" /> then with Luigi Bertazzoni and Ettore Campogalliani. She later changed the spelling of her name thinking it would make it easier to pronounce.<ref name="Blum" /> Freni made her operatic debut at the Teatro Municipale in her hometown on 3Template:NbspMarch 1955 as Micaëla in Bizet's Carmen.<ref name="Blum" /><ref name="Brug" /> She later married her teacher, the pianist and director Leone Magiera,<ref name="Brug" /> and had a daughter with him.<ref name="Blyth" /> She resumed her career in 1958 when she performed Mimì in Puccini's La bohème at the Teatro Regio in Turin<ref name="Blum" /> and sang in De Nederlandse Opera's 1959–60 season. Her international breakthrough came at the Glyndebourne Festival, where she appeared in 1960 as Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni<ref name="Kutsch/Riemens" /> alongside Joan Sutherland as Donna Anna, and in 1962 as Susanna in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro and as Adina in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore, directed by Franco Zeffirelli.<ref name="Hopkins" /><ref name="Blum" /><ref name="Kutsch/Riemens" />

In 1961, Freni first performed at the Royal Opera House in London as Nannetta in Verdi's Falstaff.<ref name="Hopkins" /> She stepped in as Nannetta at La Scala in Milan for Renata Scotto in 1962.<ref name="Spicer" /> On 31 January 1963, she appeared there as Mimì in a production staged by Franco Zeffirelli and conducted by Herbert von Karajan.<ref name="Blum" /> She became one of the conductor's favourite singers in operas and concerts.<ref name="Brug" /> The production was repeated at the Vienna State Opera the same year,<ref name="Sinkovicz" /><ref name="Vienna" /> and she appeared at the house in eleven roles, including the title role of Puccini's Manon Lescaut and Amelia in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra.<ref name="Vienna" /> On 29Template:NbspSeptember 1965, she first appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, again as Mimì,<ref name="Blum" /> with Gianni Raimondi as Rodolfo who also made his house debut. Reviewer Alan Rich wrote in the New York Herald Tribune:

She later appeared there as Adina in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore,<ref name="Met" /> Liù in Puccini's Turandot, Marguerite in Gounod's Faust, and Juliette in Roméo et Juliette.<ref name="Brug" /> The following year she sang Mimì again for her Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company debut, with Flaviano Labò as Rodolfo.<ref name="Brug" /> She appeared as Maria in Donizetti's La figlia del reggimento first at La Scala in 1968, also the first time she performed together with Pavarotti. The following year they performed as the lovers Mimi and Rudolfo in La bohème there together.<ref name="Spicer" /> A recording of her singing Mimi with Pavarotti as Rudolfo conducted by Karajan was released in 1973.<ref name="Baker" />

From the early 1970s into the 1980s, Freni sang heavier Verdi roles,<ref name="Brug" /> including Elisabetta in John Dexter's production of Don Carlos, Desdemona in Otello (alongside Jon Vickers), Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, Elvira in the Luca Ronconi staging of Ernani, Leonora in La forza del destino, and the title role of Aida performed in the Houston Grand Opera in 1987. She appeared as Puccini's Tosca only on a recording. She performed as Manon Lescaut in the Metropolitan Opera's 1990 season<ref name="Henahan 1990" /> and recorded Madama Butterfly<ref name="Arkiv" /> and the three roles of Il trittico.<ref name="Oliver" />

Freni chose her roles carefully, saying in an interview: "I am generous in many ways, but not when I think it will destroy my voice. Some singers think they are gods who can do everything. But I have always been honest with myself and my possibilities."<ref name="Tommasini 2020" /> She refused Karajan's offers of Leonora in Verdi's Il trovatore and the title role in Puccini's Turandot.<ref name="Brug" /> Elvira in Ernani was set aside after a single run at La Scala (and despite offers to sing the role elsewhere).<ref name="Brug" /> She never sang Cio-Cio-San on stage, but recorded it twice, not including the 1975 film Madama Butterfly, alongside Plácido Domingo, with Karajan conducting and Jean-Pierre Ponnelle directing.<ref name="Hopkins" /> She played Susanna in the Ponnelle film of Le nozze di Figaro, which also featured Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Kiri Te Kanawa and Hermann Prey.<ref name="Sinkovicz" />

Freni extended her repertoire and style during the 1990s with Italian verismo,<ref name="Brug" /> taking on the title roles of Francesco Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur in Milan, Paris, Barcelona and New York, and Umberto Giordano's Fedora in London, Milan, New York, Torino, Barcelona and Zürich. In 1997, she performed Giordano's Madame Sans-Gêne at the Teatro Massimo Bellini.<ref name="Foletto" /> During this time she sang in Russian operas, such as Tchaikovsky's Tatiana in Eugene Onegin, Lisa in The Queen of Spades, and Ioanna in The Maid of Orleans. Freni ended her professional career on stage, performing teenager Ioanna at the age of 70 at the Washington National Opera on 11Template:NbspApril 2005.<ref name="Brug" />

Personal life

In 1978, after Freni's marriage to Magiera had ended in divorce,<ref name="Blyth" /> she married Nicolai Ghiaurov, one of the leading operatic basses of the post-war period. Together they helped to establish the Centro Universale del Bel Canto in Vignola, where they began giving master classes in 2002. After Ghiaurov's death in 2004, Freni continued their work of preserving the bel canto tradition, teaching young singers from around the world.<ref name="Blum" /> Freni's daughter, Micaela Magiera, wrote a biographical work by the name of The Girl Under the Piano, which centers on her parents and their friendship with Pavarotti.Template:Efn

Freni died on 9Template:NbspFebruary 2020 at her home in Modena. According to her manager, she died "after a long degenerative illness and a series of strokes".<ref name="Tommasini 2020" /><ref name="Brug" /> She left her sister, Marta Fregni, her daughter and two grandchildren.<ref name="Cuogi"/> On 12 February, her coffin was moved from the funeral home to the Teatro Comunale Modena for public tribute and then transferred in a procession to Modena Cathedral, where the funeral took place.<ref name="MSN" /> The Italian Tribune of Detroit eulogized her life and career:

Honours

Freni was awarded the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in the grade of Knight Grand Cross in 1990<ref name="Quirinale" /> and the French Legion of Honour in March 1993.<ref name="Hopkins" /> In 1995, she was appointed Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.<ref name="Le Monde" /> The University of Pisa awarded her an honorary degree in 2002 for her "great contribution to European culture."<ref name="Pisa" /> In 2009, she was promoted to the rank of Officer in the Legion of Honour.<ref name="Il Resto del Carlino" /> In a broadcast matinée of Fedora at the Metropolitan Opera on 26 April 1997, Freni was presented with the Key to the City of New York by then mayor, Rudy Giuliani.<ref name="Met Fedora" /> In 2005, the Metropolitan Opera celebrated the 40th anniversary of her Met debut and her 50th anniversary on stage with a special gala concert conducted by James Levine.<ref name="Tommasini 2005" />

Videography

• The Metropolitan Opera Centennial Gala (1983), Deutsche Grammophon DVD, 00440-073-4538, 2009<ref name="Henahan 1983" />
• The Metropolitan Opera Gala 1991, Deutsche Grammophon DVD, 00440-073-4582, 2010<ref name="DG" />

Further reading

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External links

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Performances and interviews

• All recordings of Mirella Freni on Opera Depot
• "Mirella Freni, il ricordo di Leone Magiera", at Modena Belcanto Festival (in Italian)
• Template:YouTube
• Template:YouTube, "Io son l'umile ancella" from Adriana Lecouvreur
• Two Interviews with Mirella Freni and Nicolai Ghiaurov, conversations with Bruce Duffie