Fembio Specials Famous Italian Women Mirella Freni
Fembio Special: Famous Italian Women
Mirella Freni Freni
Wikimedia Commons
(born Mirella Fregni)
born on February 27, 1935 in Modena, Italy
died on February 9, 2020 in Modena, Italy
Italian singer
5th anniversary of death on February 9, 2025
90th birthday on February 27, 2025
Biography
She had inherited her talent from her grandmother, the soprano Valentina Bartolomasi. At the age of ten, Mirella Freni sang Un bel di vedremo from Madame Butterfly in a national radio competition and came first.
She took singing lessons in Modena from Ettore Campogalliani, who also trained Renata Tebaldi, and then debuted in 1955 as Micaela in Carmen at the Teatro Communale in Modena. That same year she married the pianist Leone Magiere, a childhood friend, and took a break from singing in order to devote herself to her family. She experienced her artistic
breakthrough in 1958 after beating 200 others and winning the international Giovanni Battisti Viotti competition.
She performed at the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam in 1959/60, took part in the Glyndebourne Festival in England in 1960 (Susanna/The Marriage of Figaro) and sang at the Convent Garden Opera in London in 1961 (Nannetta/Falstaff). In 1963 she played Mimi (La Bohème) at La Scala in Milan in a production by Franco Zeffirelli that was conducted by Herbert von Karajan. It was the beginning of a 17-year collaboration; she was Karajan's favorite singer and she shone on the stages of the world's greatest opera houses, especially in the roles of Mimi, Susanna and, time and again, Micaela. A Micaela who triumphed over Carmen.
“All the other performers have wonderful arias that the audience applauds,” Grace Bumbry complained about the Salzburg Carmen production, “but Carmen has none. It is fundamentally a character role… And if the singer is weak or if her voice is not up to it on that day, then it will be Micaela’s evening. Especially when Carmen has to contend with a Micaela sung by Mirella Freni!”
It was Karajan who prepared Freni in the 1970s for “stronger” roles such as Desdemona in Otello, Elisabetta de Valois in Don Carlos and Aida. Her relationship with Karajan ended abruptly after she refused to sing the title role in Turandot; she feared it could damage her voice. “A singer must be able to say no,” she said.
To her Italian fans, she is La Prudentissima – the cautious one. The end of the collaboration did her no harm: she remained the most sought-after lyric soprano. Critics may have missed the dramatic soprano in her, but she was confident of her approach: “I sing the role my way, in a lyrical way, with my voice and my personality.”
She continued to take on new challenges, such as the roles of Fedora or Madame Sans-Gêne in works by Umberto Giordano. When Mirella turned 70 in 2005, she had no plans of retiring.
Mirella Freni died on February 9, 2020 in Modena, Italy.
Awards
1990 The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Cavaliere di Gran Croce dell'Ordine al merito
della Repubblica italiana -OMRI)
1993 the French Legion of Honor
2002 Laurea honoris causa, an honorary degree from the University of Pisa
2010 Lifetime Achievement Award (Oscar della Lirica alla carriera), Verona Arena
2010 MIDEM Classical Award for her life's work
2014 Premio Cittá di Varazze, Francesco Cilea
Omaggio a/Tribute to Mirella Freni (Teatro alla Scala)
(Text from 2004; translated with DeepL.com; updated and edited by Ramona Fararo, 2025.
Please consult the German version for additional information, pictures, sources, videos, and bibliography.)
Author: Susanne Gretter
Quotes
I was born with this voice; everyone admired my beautiful voice. But from a very early age, I wanted to know how to sing beyond mere instinct. And so, I gradually began to observe my body, my breath, how it works. I really listened to myself. I am proud of the fact that I have developed my technique myself. (Ö1-Radiokolleg: An absolute exception. 24.02.2005)
As for me, singing makes me happy. (Interview with Anna Bandettini, milano.repubblica.it. 25.02.2015)
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