Albums by Mirella Freni
ALBUMVerdi: FalstaffSir Georg Solti, Orchestra Of The Rome Opera House, Geraint Evans, Robert Merrill, Alfredo Kraus, Mirella Freni, Giulietta Simionato & Ilva Ligabue
ALBUMMirella FreniMirella Freni
ALBUMVerdi: Don CarlosMirella Freni, Agnes Baltsa, José Carreras, Piero Cappuccilli, Ruggero Raimondi, Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera & Herbert von Karajan
ALBUMIl Natale del RedentoreMirella Freni, Orchestra dell'Angelicum di Milano & Carlo Felice Cillario
ALBUMMozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492 (Glyndebourne)Heinz Blankenburg, Mirella Freni, Gabriel Bacquier, Edith Mathis, Silvio Varviso, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra & The Glyndebourne Chorus
ALBUMDonizetti: L'elisir d'amore (Glyndebourne)Mirella Freni, Luigi Alva, Emily Maire, Enzo Sordello, Sesto Bruscantini, Carlo Felice Cillario, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra & The Glyndebourne Chorus
ALBUMMirella Freni - The First RecitalsMirella Freni, Viktor Remsey, Gino dal Ferro, Argeo Quadri, Ino Savini, Munich Radio Orchestra & Orchester der Wiener Volksoper
ALBUMGreat Singers Live: Mirella FreniMunich Radio Orchestra, Kurt Peter Eichhorn, Mirella Freni & Vladimir Ghiaurov
ALBUMPuccini: Madama ButterflyMirella Freni, Teresa Berganza, José Carreras, Juan Pons, Philharmonia Orchestra & Giuseppe Sinopoli
ALBUMMozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)José Van Dam, Teresa Berganza, Hermann Prey, Mirella Freni, Daniela Mazzuccato, Stefania Malagu, Mirto Picchi, Paolo Montarsolo, Maria Borgato, Leonardo Monreale, Franco Ricciardi, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Chorus of Teatro alla Scala, Milan & Claudio Abbado
Mirella Freni's Popular Music Videos
The Callas Effect - Reflections from Those Who Knew Her
Maria Callas, Mirella Freni, Tito Gobbi, Sir John Tooley, Jon Tolansky, John Copley, Reginald Suter & Priscilla Pritchard
Puccini - La bohème: Che gelida manina
Luciano Pavarotti, San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Tiziano Severini & Mirella Freni
Puccini - La bohème: Sì. Mi chiamano Mimì
Luciano Pavarotti, Mirella Freni, San Francisco Opera Orchestra & Tiziano Severini
Ernani: Tu Perfida
Mirella Freni, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Plácido Domingo & Riccardo Muti
La Traviata: Libiamo ne' lieli calici (Live At Philharmonie, Berlin / 1998)
Mirella Freni, Christine Schäfer, Marcelo Álvarez, Simon Keenlyside, Berlin Philharmonic & Claudio Abbado
Eugene Onegin, Op. 24, TH 5: Letter Scene (Live At Philharmonie, Berlin / 1998)
Mirella Freni, Berlin Philharmonic & Claudio Abbado
O soave fanciulla (Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, October 23, 1966)
Mirella Freni & Gianni Raimondi
Artist Biography
Ranking among modern history’s most renowned bel canto sopranos, Mirella Freni mixed nimbleness and precision with dramatic heft. She was born in 1935 in Modena, Italy, and took an interest in opera at a young age, winning a national competition at 12 with a Puccini aria. She made her stage debut in 1955—in her hometown—as Micaëla in Carmen (1875), a role to which she would return throughout her career. In 1963, Freni became the toast of the Italian opera world with her portrayal of Mimì in Franco Zeffirelli's production of La Bohème (1896) at La Scala. It remains one of the opera’s defining stagings. As her star rose internationally in the late 1960s, Freni unveiled her celebrated Juliette in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette (1867) at the Metropolitan Opera, further illustrating her ability to communicate deep emotion while performing technically demanding lyric roles. In the 1970s and '80s, Freni pushed beyond her established comfort zone with heavier dramatic roles, most notably in Verdi operas including Otello (1887) and Aida (1871). Her expressive performances have been widely disseminated through her prolific videography, the 1974 film of Madama Butterfly (1904) with Plácido Domingo being a standout. Freni retired from performing at the age of 70 to focus on teaching, and she died in Modena in 2020.
Hometown
Modena, Italy
Genre
Classical