About Mirella Freni
Mirella Freni (born Mirella Fregni; 27 February 1935 – 9 February 2020) was an Italian operatic soprano who had a career of 50 years and appeared at major international opera houses. She received international attention at the Glyndebourne Festival, where she appeared as Mozart's Zerlina in Mozart's Don Giovanni and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, and as Adina in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore. Freni is associated with the role of Mimì in Puccini's La bohème, which featured in her repertoire from 1957 to 1999 and which she sang at La Scala in Milan and the Vienna State Opera in 1963, conducted by Herbert von Karajan. She also performed the role in a film of the production and as her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1965. In the earliest opera DVDs, she portrayed her characters convincingly in both acting and singing. Freni was married to the Bulgarian bass Nicolai Ghiaurov, with whom she performed and recorded. Her obituary from The New York Times described her as a "matchless Italian prima donna". In 1961, Freni first performed at the Royal Opera House in London as Nannetta in Verdi's Falstaff. On 29 September 1965, she first appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, again as Mimì, with Gianni Raimondi as Rodolfo who also made his house debut.
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