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Post by tmesis on Feb 9, 2020 21:56:17 GMT
The Italian singer has died today aged 84. She was last in the line of truly great Italian lyric sopranos and frequently partnered Pavarotti live and in recordings. Her Decca recording of La Boheme with the latter, conducted by Karajan has not been surpassed (much as I love Bjorling/Los Angeles/Beecham.) Karajan encouraged her to sing heavier roles like Butterfly and Aida which she did with equal distinction, producing an unforced, totally even but sumptuous tone that you just don't hear today.
She didn't sing in U.K. very often but I did manage to catch her just once at ROH as Tatyana in Eugene Onegin and she was fabulous.
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Post by scarpia on Feb 9, 2020 22:16:30 GMT
Just heard the news. Saddened by the loss of another great; there aren't many left. Fortunately her voice will live on in the recordings.
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1,089 posts
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Post by tonyloco on Feb 10, 2020 15:37:08 GMT
Mirella Freni, one of the great opera singers of recent times, has died aged 84. I believe the first time I saw her was as an exquisite Nanetta in Verdi's Falstaff opposite the equally superb Fenton of Luigi Alva at Covent Garden conducted by Giulini in the early 1960s. I was lucky to see her in various other lyric roles around that time and I was not entirely happy when she was persuaded by conductors like Muti and Karajan to take on heavier dramatic roles, but she made a success of her career and reached the highest levels of her profession.
A little anecdote that links with my first encounter with Freni as a recording artist came in my early days working for EMI. One of EMI's most successful complete opera recordings was Puccini's La Bohème with Victoria de los Angeles and Jussi Björling conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham. Although recorded with a primitive kind of multi track technology, it was still in mono and when mono recordings became almost unsaleable in the USA, it became commercially necessary to rerecord this opera in stereo with the same artists. But before this could be achieved, Björling died and so did Beecham and Victoria decided she no longer felt able to sing the role of Mìmi. So the remake of the Beecham/Björling/de los Angeles Bohème ended up with Thomas Schippers, Nicolai Gedda and Mirella Freni! Fortunately, the result was also a superb recording and as all the performers were major stars at the Met in New York, it totally fulfilled its main requirement to be a hit in EMI's biggest opera market!
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1,089 posts
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Post by tonyloco on Feb 10, 2020 19:27:26 GMT
I have an anecdote about Freni that might be of interest.
EMI was wondering whether or not to record La traviata with Freni when she appeared in the new production by Luchino Visconti of that opera at Covent Garden in April 1967, but as a result of her not entirely being on top of it vocally at that time EMI decided not to proceed.
But on the opening night, Maria Callas happened to be in London for her court case against Vergottis over the ownership of an oil tanker. Maria came to the Traviata performance as guest of the General Administrator (Sir David Webster) and was sitting in the front row of the Grand Tier and every time Freni sang a relatively high note, all heads in the Stalls turned to look and see whether Maria registered any reaction on her face.
One of my friends always sat in A 86 in the Amphitheatre, which was the first seat in the Lower Slips on the right hand side, so he was able to get a clear view of the entire Stalls from above. I'm not sure whether he could see Maria but he could certainly see all the people in the Stalls turning round to look at Maria at critical moments and he said it seemed that the Stalls spent more time turned around watching Callas than looking at Freni on the stage. I was sitting in the centre of the Front Amphitheatre so I could see only Freni on the stage and not the people in the Stalls or Callas in the Grand Tier!
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