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Posted by: Vespasiano Sep 20 2009, 05:35 AM

In a career that spanned 50 years, the beloved Italian soprano, Mirella Freni, charmed audiences around the world with the warmth, richness and vibrant communicativeness of her beautiful full-lyric voice. On-stage, both her voice, her characterizations and her very presence projected an adorable gentleness and sweetness that made her a perfect embodiment of the Italian term “morbidezza” as it is only rarely applied to the singer’s art: Miss Freni had that special gift for making her audiences want to embrace her, to comfort her, and to smile with her.

None of this is to suggest that Miss Freni’s voice lacked strength or power: these she had in abundance when called for. Although hers was essentially a lyric soprano voice, it was also one of the most solidly produced and technically secure voices I ever had the pleasure of hearing in a theater, and it was so consistently year after year. It was also completely even throughout the register with top notes that blossomed like spring flowers. These qualities would serve Miss Freni beautifully as she took on some of the heavier, more dramatic roles later in her career.

The selections below reflect Miss Freni’s art and her vocal growth and development over a 40 year period. If you are unfamiliar with this artist, I hope you enjoy listening to her as much as I have over the years.

Although Miss Freni had been active for some time, 1962 was the year of her debut at London’s Covent Garden. On that occasion, she performed the role of Nanetta in Verdi’s superb comic masterpiece, Falstaff. If Helen’s face launched a thousand ships, Miss Freni’s gorgeous singing on this occasion launched the stellar international career that would continue until her retirement from the stage at age 70 in 2005. This is a performance of Nanetta’s aria, Sul fil d’un soffio etesio, from a performance of the opera that took place that same year in Naples with a cast that was “to die for”, including such renowned Italian artists as Renata Tebaldi, Tito Gobbi and Fedora Barbieri. Miss Freni proved herself to be the equal of those senior artists, as this audio-only live clip demonstrates.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg37GhIv8I8

As was once the custom for young lyric sopranos (as well as for the lighter-voiced coloraturas), Miss Freni began her career singing many of the roles that had become staples of the Bel Canto repertoire. One such role that figured prominently in Miss Freni’s early career was that of Adina in Donizetti’s delightful comedy, The Elixir of Love. In this extract from a 1968 film, we hear and see Miss Freni in the aria and scene, Prendi, per me. While she does not let loose with the coloratura fireworks one typically hears when that voice type sings this role, she brings a wonderful charm, simplicity and beautiful tone to her work. As well as she sings it, however, one senses that this is a voice meant for other things.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwOuAmdE7rw

The role of Micaëla, Don José’s hometown sweetheart, in Bizet’s Carmen is, in far too many performances of the opera, frequently and rather easily overshadowed by Carmen herself and Don José. Such was not the case, however, in 1967 when the legendary conductor, Herbert von Karajan, invited Mirella Freni to perform the role at Salzburg alongside the fine American mezzo-soprano, Grace Bumbry, in the tile role and the legendary tenor, Jon Vickers, as Don José. This was luxury casting to the Nth degree. In my view, Miss Freni’s singing of Micaëla’s Act II aria, Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante, is without equal. This piece can be dreadfully monotonous and usually is. But all the qualities that made Miss Freni so special give her performance a soaring emotional intensity that lights up the stage. This clip is from the film of that 1967 Salzburg production.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVvFd1EZRRI

The role of Mimi in Puccini’s La Boheme is perhaps the role with which Miss Freni is most closely associated. In fact, I would say that she was the finest Mimi of the last 50 years – so perfectly did Puccini’s music mesh with Miss Freni’s best qualities. This is the First Act aria, Si, mi chiamano Mimi, in which the character introduces herself to the poet, Rodolfo, with a little poetry of her own. This is a video clip from a live, 1971 gala performance with the great tenor, Franco Corelli, as Rodolfo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK2BUovgZ6M

Gounod’s Faust was an opera in which the fullness of Miss Freni’s lyric voice shone, and the role of Marguerite was one she performed frequently throughout the 1970s. This role is, in many ways, a transitional one for the lyric soprano: it is a part that requires not only lyricism but substantial vocal heft -- just the combination of qualities that Miss Freni would eventually bring to bear as she began to venture into the heavier repertoire. In this video clip from a live, 1977 performance of the opera, Miss Freni focuses on the more lyrical aspects of her role in the aria, “Oh Dieu! que de bijoux”, otherwise known as “The Jewel Song”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3VXYNTbk_Y

When the Metropolitan Opera announced in 1983 that Mirella Freni would be singing the role of Elisabeth de Valois in Verdi’s Don Carlo, there were many who were shocked and not a little dubious about Miss Freni’s ability to handle this majestic, vocally demanding and dramatic role. This was a role almost exclusively associated with the powerful, spinto and dramatic voices such as Callas, Tebaldi, Ponselle, Cigna and Cerquetti amongst others. By the end of Miss Freni’s stunning performance of the great Act V aria, Tu che le vanità, any remaining doubts were dispelled. This performance remains one of the best lessons in the importance of a finished technique to a singer who would take on the heavier roles. This clip is from the 1983 Metropolitan Opera live telecast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLKWOU8UK3E

By the late 1980s and early 1990s, Mirella Freni had added several roles from the Russian repertoire to her portfolio. Miss Freni’s affinity for this music and her facility in projecting of the Russian language were surprising to many. In addition, these roles allowed Miss Freni to explore a greater dramatic intensity – both vocally and histrionically -- than she had allowed herself in previous years. On of these Russian roles for which Miss Freni would earn great acclaim was her Lisa in Tchaikovsky’s opera, The Queen of Spades. In this clip, Miss Freni performs Lisa’s Act III aria in production taped at the Vienna Staatsoper in 1992.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXLde7J3mZE

By 2003, although Miss Freni’s voice had lost some of its acoustic power (she was then 68 years old, and had been singing professionally for 48 of those years), otherwise it remained almost wholly intact with no loss of those other qualities which had made her such a treasured artist over the years. As an illustration of her longevity and continued vocal strengths, yet another Tchaikovsky work would serve as a vehicle for Miss Freni: the role of Joan of Arc in the Russian composer’s 1881 opera, The Maid or Orleans which was based upon Schiller’s 1801 play. This is a remarkable performance, especially for those of us who have studied singing in the hope of being able to do so well as Miss Freni does in this live 2003 performance from Palermo. It was one of the last major roles Miss Freni would perform on-stage before her retirement in 2005.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plaM2OuISbk

Finally, returning to Miss Freni at the continued height of her powers, from 1991 her luminous performance of the gorgeous aria, Io son l’umile ancella (I Am the Humbe Vessel for the Expression of the Creator’s Art), from Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur. This performance was part of a gala production of the Party Scene from Die Fledermaus that, in part, celebrated Miss Freni’s 25th anniversary at the Metropolitan Opera. The Verismo Adriana was a role that had begun to figure prominently in Freni’s repertoire and, though her personality might not have recommend her for the part of a fiery, tempestuous diva, vocally the role fit her like a glove. I thought this would be a good way to bring this little retrospective of this wonderful artist to a close.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5778Ah_bPo8

Posted by: Bob G Sep 23 2009, 01:31 AM

I have always love Mirella Freni. I began listening to opera when she already had many excellent recordings. Happily, I have many.

There were many wonderful women singing in those years, not to mention many who had recorded before. Are you planning to treat us to all of them, are you touching just your favorites, or just doing them as the mood hits? Either way, It is a pleasure to follow along as you entertain us. (I have a couple other posting to make to your threads.)

Do you have any current favorites singers? I am not listening much to new singers, and I know of only one or two.

Posted by: Vespasiano Sep 23 2009, 04:00 PM

I would say that from time to time, as the mood hits, I touch on some of my favorites or at least those who were among the top-echelon, major artists. Otherwise, even if that were my objective, there are far too many wonderful singers to cover them all and, frequently, insufficient material on the Internet to do them justice. There are others who, I suppose one could say, are "acquired tastes" -- extraordinary artists whose voices either didn't record all that well or were problematic (read, perhaps not that beautiful to listen to): Callas is the primary example of this, and that's why I haven't done too much with her. In either case, these were singer's whose artistry I feel was best experienced live.

Among my current favorites are Renee Fleming (I went to school with Miss Fleming, so have been following her wonderful career), Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Jonas Kaufmann, Rene Pape, Karita Mattilla (in certain repertoire), Anna Netrebko, Juan Diego Florez, Joyce Di Donato, Susan Graham, etc. . . You get the picture.