Mirella Freni

Soprano

The Italian soprano Mirella Freni (born 27 February 1935) is a famous opera singer much admired for the youthful quality of her voice and her acting skills. Her repertoire encompasses some forty roles, Verdi and Puccini in particular but also Mozart and Tchaikovsky. Freni was married many years to the Bulgarian basso Nicolai Ghiaurov, with whom she performed and recorded frequently.

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Mirella Freni - Un Bel di

Puccini Scenes & Arias

CD 1

Madama Butterfly - Act 1

[1] Viene la sera 7:34

[2] Vogliatemi bene 7:54

Act 2

[3] Un bel dì vedremo 4:33

[4] Suzuki? Suzuki? Dove sei? 1:56

[5] Tu, Suzuki, che sei tanto buona 5:45

[6] Come una mosca prigioniera 2:43

[7] Con onor muore 5:34

Turandot - Act 3

[8] Tu che di gel sei cinta 2:52

Tosca - Act 1

[9] Mario! Mario! Mario! 13:18

Act 2

[10] Vissi d’arte 4:34

Act 3

[11] Ah! Franchigia a Floria Tosca 2:37

[12] O dolci mani 7:47

[13] Come è lunga l’attesa 2:29

[14] Presto, su! Mario! Mario! 1:40

CD 2

La Bohème - Act 1

[1] Che gelida manina 4:38

[2] Sì. Mi chiamano Mimì 6:00

[3] O soave fanciulla 4:12

Act 3

[4] Donde lieta uscì al tuo grido 3:22

[5] Dunque è proprio finita! 6:08

Act 4

[6] Sono andati? Fingevo di dormire 5:59

[7] Che avvien? 6:02

Il Trittico

Il tabarro

[8] Ho sognato una casetta 6:51

Suor Angelica

[9] Tutto ho offerto alla Vergine 5:40

[10] Senza mamma, o bimbo, tu sei morto 4:39

Gianni Schicchi

[11] O mio babbino caro 2:06

Manon Lescaut - Act 2

[12] Dispetosetto questo riccio! 5:53

[13] In quelle trine morbide 2:31

[14] Poiché tu vuoi saper 3:09

Act 4

[15] Sola perduta, abbandonata 4:46

[16] Fra le tue braccia amore 7:40

Mirella Freni (soprano)

with

Luciano Pavarotti (tenor)

Wiener Philharmoniker / Herbert von Karajan (Madama Butterfly)

Philharmonia Orchestra / Giuseppe Sinopoli (Turandot)

National Philharmonic Orchestra / Nicola Rescigno (Tosca)

Berliner Philharmoniker / Herbert von Karajan (La Bohème)

Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino / Brono Bartoletti (Il Trittico)

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra / James Levine (Manon Lescaut)

A generously-filled 2-CD set of many of Puccini's most famous soprano arias and scenes sung by one of the greatest Puccini interpreters, the incomparable Mirella Freni. Taken from Mirella Freni's legendary Decca recordings of complete operas and also starring Luciano Pavarotti this is the ideal Puccini compilation for the composer's anniversary year

Decca - 4780368

(CD - 2 discs)

£12.49 (£10.63 ex. VAT)

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Mirella Freni

CD1

Mozart: Don Giovanni, Act 1 – Là ci darem la mano

Mozart: Don Giovanni, Act 1 – Batti, batti, o bel Masetto

Mozart: Don Giovanni, Act 2 – Vedrai, carino

with Nicolai Ghiaurov [1], New Philharmonia Orchestra, Otto Klemperer

Recorded: 15, 17-19, 22-25, 27-30 June & 3-4 July, 1966, No.1 Studio, Abbey Road, London

Bellini: La sonnambula, Act 1 – Son geloso del zefiro errante

with Nicolai Gedda, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Edward Downes

Recorded: February/June/July & August, 1966, location not known

Donizetti: Don Pasquale, Act 1 – Quel guardo il cavaliere …

Donizetti: Don Pasquale, Act 1 – So anch'io la virtù magica

Donizetti: Don Pasquale, Act 3 – Signorina, in tanta fretta dove va …

Donizetti: Don Pasquale, Act 3 – È finita, Don Pasquale …

Donizetti: Don Pasquale, Act 3 – Via, caro sposino

Donizetti: Don Pasquale, Act 3 – Tornami a dir che m'ami

with Sesto Bruscantini [7-9] & Gösta Winbergh [10], Philharmonia Orchestra, Riccardo Muti

Recorded: 28-30 June & 8-11 July 1982, Kingsway Hall London

Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore, Act 1 – Chiedi all'aura lusinghiera

Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore, Act 2 – Eccola … Oh! Quale accresce …

Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore, Act 2 – Prendi. Prendi, per me sei libero

Donizetti: L'elisir d'amore, Act 2 – Ebben, tenete. Poiché non sono amato

with Nicolai Gedda, Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera, Roma, Francesco Molinari-Pradelli

Recorded: August, 1966, Opera House, Rome

Puccini: La bohème, Act 1 – Sì. Mi chiamano Mimì

Puccini: La bohème, Act 3 – Addio … Donde lieta uscì al to grido

with Nicolai Gedda [5], Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Thomas Schippers

Gounod: Mirielle, Act 2 – La brise et douce et parfumée

with Alain Vanzo, Chœur & Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse, Michel Plasson

Recorded: November 1979

Gounod: Roméo et Juliette, Act 1 – Voyens, nouricce, on m'attend! Parle vite! …

Gounod: Roméo et Juliette, Act 1 – Je veux vivre dans ce rêve

Gounod: Roméo et Juliette, Act 2 – O nuit divine! Je t'emplore

with Michèle Vilma [17-18] & Franco Corelli [19]

Orchestre du Théâtre National de l'Opéra de Paris, Alain Lombard

Recorded: June/July, 1968, Salle Wagram, Paris

Total approximate duration 75.43

CD2

Verdi: Otello, Act 1 – Già nella notte densa …

Verdi: Otello, Act 1 – Quando narravi l'esule tua vita … Ed io vedea le tue tempie … Venga la morte!

Verdi: Otello, Act 4 – Mia madre aveva una povera ancella …

Verdi: Otello, Act 4 - Piangea cantando nell'arma landa

Verdi: Otello, Act 4 – Ave Maria, piena grazia

with Jon Vickers [1-2] & Stefania Malagu [3], Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan

Recorded: 30 April; 1-2 & 22-27 May,1973, Philharmonie, Berlin

Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, Act 3 – E Susanna non vien! … Dove sono

Bellini: I puritani, Act 2 – O rendetemi la speme … Qui la voce … Vien, diletto

Verdi: La traviata, Act 1 – E strano! … Ah! Fors'è lui … Sempre libera

with Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera, Roma, Franco Ferraris

Recorded: 4-8 August, 1964, Teatro dell'Opera, Rome

Mascagni: L'Amico Fritz, Act 1 – Son pochi fiori!

Mascagni: L'Amico Fritz, Act 2 – Bel cavaliere, che vai per la foresta …

Mascagni: L'Amico Fritz, Act 2 – Suzel, buon dì …

Mascagni: L'Amico Fritz, Act 3 – Non mi resta che il pianto ed il dolore

with Luciano Pavarotti, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Gianandrea Gavazzini

Recorded: 29 -31 August & 1-7 September, 1968, No. 1 Studio, Abbey Road, London

Donizetti: Lucia di Lammeroor, Act 1 – Ah! Talor del tuo pensiero … Verrano a te sull'aure I miei sospiri ardenti

with Nicolai Gedda, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Edward Downes

Recorded: February/June/July & August, 1966, location not known

Ciléa: Adriana Lecouvreur, Act 1 – Ecco! Respiro appena … Io son l'umile ancella

Ciléa: Adriana Lecouvreur, Act 4 – Poveri fiori

with Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Milano, Antonino Votto

Recorded: 6-7, 12 & 14 June, 1967, Basilica, Milan

Puccini: Madama Butterfly, Act 2 – Un bel di, vedremo

Puccini: Madama Butterfly, Act 2 – Tu, tu piccolo iddio!

With Orchestra della Radiotelevisione Italiano, Milano Leone Magiera

Recorded: 10-12 January, 1966, Basilica, Milan

Total approximate duration 77.32

CD3

Bizet: Carmen, Act 3 – C'est des contrebandiers … Je dis que rien ne m'épouvante

Bizet: Les pêcheurs des perles, Act 2 – Me voilà seule … Comme autrefois

Massenet: Manon, Act 2 – Allons ! Il le faut pour lui-même … Adieu notre petite table

with Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Milano, Antonino Votto

Recorded: 6-7, 12 & 14 July, 1967, Basilica, Milan

Gounod: Faust, Act 3 – Je voudrais bien savoir … Il était un roi de Thulé…

Gounod: Faust, Act 3 – Un bouquet ! … O Dieu! Que de bijoux … Ah! Je ris

with Paris Opéra Orchestra, Georges Prêtre

Recorded: 19-29 June, 1978, Salle Wagram, Paris

Verdi: La forza del destino, Act 1 – Ah, per sempre, o mio bell'angiol … Pronti destrieri … Ah! Seguirti fino agl'ultimi

Verdi: La forza del destino, Act 2 – Sono giunta! … Grazie, o Dio

Verdi: La forza del destino, Act 2 – Madre, pietosa Vergine

Verdi: La forza del destino, Act 4 – Pace, pace, mio Dio

with Placido Domingo, Francesca Garbi Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Milano Riccardo Muti

Recorded: 6-15 July, 1986, Milan

Puccini: Gianni Schicchi – O mio babbino caro

with Orchestra della Radiotelevisione Italiano, Milano Leone Magiera

Recorded: 11-12 January, 1966, Basilica, Milan

Puccini: La Rondine, Act 1 – Chi il bel sogno di Doretta

with Orchestra della Radiotelevisione Italiano, Milano Leone Magiera

Recorded: 10 June, 1966, Basilica, Milan

Charpentier: Louise, Act 3 – Depuis le jour

with Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera, Roma Franco Ferraris

Recorded: 7 June, 1964, Teatro dell'Opera, Rome

Mascagni: Lodoletta, Act 3 – Ah! Il suo nome! … Flammen, perdonami!

With Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Milano Antonino Votto

Recorded: 6-7, 12 & 14 June, 1967, Italy

Puccini: Tosca, Act 2 – Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore

Puccini: Manon Lescaut, Act 2 – In quelle trine morbide

with Orchestra della Radiotelevisione Italiano, Milano Leone Magiera

Recorded: 11-12 January, 1966, Basilica, Milan

Puccini: Turandot, Act 1 – Signore, ascolta

Puccini: Turandot, Act 3 – Tu, che di gel sei cinta

with José Carreras, Paul Plishka, Vicente Sardinero Maîtrise de la Cathédrale, Chœurs de l'Opéra du Rhin Orchestra Philharmonique de Strasbourg Alain Lombard

Recorded: August, 1977, Palaid de la Musique, Strasbourg

Total approximate duration 76.19

CD4

Verdi: Don Carlo, Act 1 – Io vengo a domandar

Verdi: Don Carlo, Act 4 – Tu che le vanità

with José Carreras [15] Berliner Philharmoniker Herbert von Karajan

Recorded: IX.1978, Philharmonie, Berlin

Puccini: Suor Angelica – Senza mamma

with Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera, Roma Franco Ferraris

Recorded: 8 August, 1964, Teatro dell'Opera, Roma

Verdi: Aida: Act 1 – Ritorna vincitor!

Verdi: Aida, Act 3 – Qui Radamés verrà! ...

Verdi: Aida, Act 3 – O Patria mia

Verdi: Aida, Act 3 – Ciel! mio padre

Verdi: Aida, Act 3 – Riverdrai le foreste imbalsamate

Verdi: Aida, Act 3 – Pur ti riveggo, mia dolce Aida

Verdi: Aida, Act 3 – Nel fiero anelito di nuova guerra

Verdi: Aida, Act 3 – Fuggiam gli ardori inospiti ... La, tra foreste vergini

Verdi: Aida, Act 3 – Ma dimmi; per qul via

Verdi: Aida, Act 4 – La fatal pietra sovra me sì chuise ... Immensa Ftha

Verdi: Aida, Act 4 – O terra addio

with José Carreras & other cast members, Wiener Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan

Recorded: May,1979, Musikvereinsaal, Vienna

Total approximate duration 77.34

Mirella Freni (soprano)

Like Luciano Pavarotti, Mirella Freni was also born in 1935 and was a native of Modena. She began singing at a very early age. She was soon heard by Gigli, who advised her to take up serious vocal studies and in 1955 she made her début at Modena as Micaela in Bizet's Carmen. The association of Mirella Freni and EMI has been a long and fruitful one and some of her most notable recordings appear on the label. This 4-CD set includes examples of some of her most successful roles, including four excerpts from Mascagni's L'amico Fritz with Pavarotti and some material new to CD.

EMI Icons - 2062532

(CD - 4 discs)

£15.99 (£13.61 ex. VAT)

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Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K492

Le nozze di Figaro has been Glyndebourne’s ‘signature’ opera since the company was founded in 1934. To the social satire of Beaumarchais’s original play da Ponte added the sparkling bustle of Italian intrigue, and Mozart a miraculous, fizzing score whose music rings variations on the pains, pleasure and follies of the human heart.

Mirella Freni, Heinz Blankenburg, Gabriel Bacquier, Leyla Gencer, Edith Mathis & Carlo Cava

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra & The Glyndebourne Chorus, Silvio Varviso

Recorded live at Glyndebourne on 9 June 1962. A rare recording of a Glyndebourne signature piece from the 1962 Festival with a vintage cast.

“It will surprise no-one who saw her Zerlina here last year or recently at Covent Garden that Miss Freni makes an enchanting Susanna, but Mr Blankenburg’s Figaro is new to English audiences and is entirely worthy of her, concealing a wealth of energy and passion beneath his chubby smile.” The Times, 1962

“Like Covent Garden, Glyndebourne is now delving into its rich archive of recordings, but these are in-house affairs, and the sound quality of this Figaro from 1962 is vastly superior to Covent Garden’s Don Giovanni under Solti from the same year. Two singers are common to both sets: the miraculous Mirella Freni, a Susanna in a thousand, and the recently deceased Turkish diva Leyla Gencer, as a grand Countess. It is the ensemble under Varviso’s inspired baton that counts here: one can only dream of a cast including Edith Mathis’s delicious Cherubino and Heinz Blankenburg’s feisty, resonant Figaro at Glyndebourne today. This production crackles with theatricality, and the orchestra is superb.” Sunday Times, 15th June 2008 ****

Glyndebourne - GFOCD00162

(CD - 3 discs)

£24.99 (£21.27 ex. VAT)

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Gounod: Faust

Placido Domingo, Mirella Freni & Nicolai Ghiaurov

Chorus and Orchestra of the Théâtre National de l’Opéra de Paris, Georges Prêtre

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EMI Mid-Price Opera - 5091662

(CD - 3 discs)

Normally: £15.99 (£13.61 ex. VAT)

Special: £12.79 (£10.89 ex. VAT)

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Luciano Pavarotti - The EMI Recordings

Mascagni:

L'Amico Fritz

Recorded: VIII & IX.1968, Abbey Road Studios, London

Mirella Freni, Luciano Pavarotti, Laura Didier Gambardella, Vincenzo Sardinero, Benito di Bella, Luigi Pontiggia & Malvina Major

Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Gianandrea Gavazzeni

Verdi:

Don Carlo

Recorded: XII.1992, live at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan

Samuel Ramey, Luciano Pavarotti, Paolo Coni, Alexander Anisimov, Andrea Silvestrelli, Daniella Dessì & Luciana d'Intino

Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Milano, Riccardo Muti

Requiem

Recorded: VI.1987, live at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan

Cheryl Studer, Dolora Zajick, Luciano Pavarotti & Samuel Ramey

Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Milano, Riccardo Muti

Don Carlo

DVD (details same as CD)

7 CD + 2 DVD Clamshell box. Not since the death of Maria Callas has the passing of an operatic artist impacted on a world audience as did the death of Luciano Pavarotti on 6 September, 2007, almost 30 years to the day after Callas. Pavarotti was, without doubt, one of the greatest singers of the last century, up there with Caruso and Gigli, to name but two of the most famous whose worldwide reputations were built on their recorded legacy. Similarly, Pavarotti's name will survive into the future as new generations of music-lovers become familiar with his incomparable voice. EMI is privileged to be able to present this commemorative set of their complete Pavarotti recordings, some of which are among his greatest. The set contains Mascagni's lesser-known opera 'L'amico Fritz', recorded by a young Pavarotti in 1968; Verdi's Requiem and 'Don Carlo', the latter being recorded live at La Scala, Milan, in 1992 and included on both CD and DVD.

EMI - 5139372

(CD - 7 discs)

£21.49 (£18.29 ex. VAT)

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Puccini: Turandot (highlights)

Monterrat Caballé (soprano), José Carreras (tenor), Mirella Freni (soprano), Paul Plishka (bass), Vincente Sardinero (baritone), Remy Corazza (tenor), Riccardo Cassinelli (tenor) & Michel Senechal (tenor)

Strasbourg Cathedral Boys’ Choir, Rhine Opera Chorus & Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Alain Lombard

30% off over 600 EMI discs!

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EMI Classics for Pleasure - 3933712

(CD)

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Puccini: La Bohème

Nicolai Gedda, Mirella Freni, Mario Sereni, Mario Basiola Jr., Ferruccio Mazzoli, Carlo Badioli, Paolo Montarsolo, Mariella Adani, Vittorio Pandano, Giuseppe Giuliano, Mario Rinaudo & Antonio Dellacà

Orchestra e Coro del Teatro dell’ Opera di Roma, Thomas Schippers

In his note, ‘La bohème: A tale of two Mimìs’, Stephen Jay-Taylor tells the story. ‘This recording, notable for the youthful freshness of its twin protagonists and the airy impulse of its conducting, might well seem to be the happy product of everything proceeding according to plan. In fact, it was the end result of more than three years of deaths, defections and dismissal.’ It began in 1960 with a plan to rerecord Beecham’s classic 1956 account in stereo. But Beecham was dying and Böjrling died, so sessions were scheduled for 1961 with Victoria de los Angeles and Franco Corelli as the principals. However, Corelli proved impossible to pin down. Then, with Gedda brought in as EMI’s all-repertoire house tenor, the apparently barren de los Angeles fell pregnant – only to do so again come the final rescheduling in 1963. This was Freni’s chance: ‘She had already made well-received debuts at Glyndebourne and Covent Garden...and the sessions proceeded without a hitch, in Olof’s exquisitely crafted, beautifully detailed stereo production. The set...met with considerable acclaim, most of it occasioned by Freni’s meltingly lovely, vernal Mimì’.

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EMI Great Recordings of the Century - 3920052

(CD - 2 discs)

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