Strange as it may sound, it was, in large measure, Mirella Freni's singing that convinced me, back in the Sixties when I was an undergraduate at Columbia University, just a short subway ride from the Met, that I just had to come to live in Italy. And here I am now, resident in Milan, where I have lived ever since 1980. She was always very kind to me. I particularly treasure the memory of an evening when, having just sung Mimì in Philadelphia, she gave me a lift back to Manhattan in her chauffeured limousine. We talked all the way; she in Italian and I in what was, back then, my rather rudimentary Italian (a language that I had begun studying largely because of her). A lovely person and a wonderful singer!
David Steven Tabbat That is a wonderful story! Are you still living in Italy ? I am thinking about moving there as I am an opera singer needing to polish my Italian! Am unsure where to settle there..Naples , Verona or Palermo..
@@birdlover7776 For reasons having to do with crime and corruption, I would advise you to avoid Naples and Palermo and to choose -- out of the three cities you have named -- Verona, a lovely and livable city.
@@birdlover7776 Among the three cities you have named, I would avoid (for reasons of inefficiency, crime and corruption) Naples and Palermo, and would recommend Verona, a lovely and livable city.
The magnificent Mirella Freni. NYC and the Metropolitan opera adored her.. She was my favorite soprano. Listen to that ovation. She had an amazing career with a phenomenal voice. RIP my dear Freni.
"Io son l'umile ancella" is an aria from the opera Adriana Lecouvreur by Francesco Cilea. The English translation is "I am the humble servant of the creative spirit". In the opera, Adriana Lecouvreur sings "Io son l'umile ancella" in response to praise from her admirers. In the aria, Adriana credits her talent to God and says that her voice is like a whisper that will die with the new day. Here are some of the lyrics from the aria: Io son l'umile ancella: (I am the humble servant) del Genio creator: (Of the Spirit that creates) ei m'offre la favella: (It offers me speech) io la diffondo ai cor: (I pour it out into your hearts) Del verso io son l'accento: (I am the intonation of the verse) l'eco del dramma uman: (The echo of the human drama) il fragile strumento: (The fragile instrument) Mite, gioconda, atroce: (Gentle, joyous, terrible) mi chiamo Fedeltà: (My name is Fidelity-to-what-is) un soffio è la mia voce: (My voice is a breath) che al nuovo dì morrà: (Which will die with the new day)
I’m just now learning of Freni’s passing. Very sad. I’ve spent countless hours over the years basking in the beauty of her voice. I saw her live only once, as Alice Ford in Falstaff at the Met. I believe it was in 2002. She was the oldest in the cast by many years, but she still outsang everyone.
Una gran soprano lírica de gran potencia, y de larga carrera…muy inteligente, que supo escoger su repertorio y cantar hasta los 70 años , para luego ser maestra y jurado en muchos lugares del mundo.
Freni could spin magic from thin air. I saw her onstage as Mimi, and in the final phrase of Addio senza rancor, she held and caressed that phrase like she was stroking with her hand the curves of the most beautiful antique furniture. It was amazing.
I didn't realize until I was reading through the comments, she just passed a few days ago, what a tragic loss to the opera world!! RIP dear woman, your voice was so absolutely beautiful!
Amazing! What a voice, what a loss. Thank you, RUclips for preserving this for people who've never seen or heard her, and for those of us who can't get enough.
Само совершенство, спасибо, что Вы были с нами, Мирелла Френи, мы вас слушаем и будем слушать, как образец высочайшего,настоящего качественного оперного пения ...
Mirella was very cleverly in her career, in her prime , she sung bell canto, then romanticism and finally verismo. Her Adriana is unforgettable 🌹🌷🍀🌺☘️❤️
Because of the wise husbanding of her voice, Mirella Freni managed to have one of the longest careers of any soprano, but more importantly, the quality of the voice became better and better over time and didn't diminish until the very end which came about ten years after this video. The only thing one cannot appreciate from this clip is the bloom of sound as she rose up the scale. You can get the gist of this sound in the last line of the above video...Che al novo di morrà ... on the" di" , listen to how the sound swells and multiply by ten. The note is a G# i think. How wonderful.
I heard her live twice, the first time as Aida and the second as Fedora. Both times I knew there would never be a more beautiful soprano voice than that of Mirella Freni.
As I always say....The past was always better.... No point of comparison with singers from this generation. Such perfection doesn t exist on them. Present singer will not never achieve it. Today' singers "must" learn from these marvellous artists.... Brava Mirella!!!!!!!
Sadly I did not appreciate her earlier work when I first started listening to opera. I preferred big, rich voices. As I got older and she started performing bigger roles, I then began to listen to her earlier works and started to understand the true beauty of her voice. What an amazing artist
Mirella Freni is an amazing singer, and no one would argue that fact. The only argument that bothers me in most of these comments is the disparagement of the current crop of young singers. You simply can't compare a twenty one-year-old singer fresh out of an undergraduate degree to a singer with decades of craft under her belt. Don't blame the singers for the current trend of "younger and prettier". That is a global issue. The wise young singers will, with proper guidance, chose suitable rep that will allow them to develop into great artists. Please don't blame your aesthetic issues on the fact that "young singers don't work hard". That's neither fair nor true. Have a little faith, and, if you are capable, support the programs and schools that allow promising young singers to grow into the great artists that this essential art form needs to thrive for generations to come.
wbs partially agree with you on this! The young generation is no way comparable with the great singers of golden era, which is deadly solid truth! The main reason is that young singers today are either rising to fame too quickly or give it up soon! Opera singers career is highly risky and need a long time experience and extremely careful choosing and organising the roles in right order. The opera market today doesn't allow a RIGHT And SLOW growing period for young singers! And what's more, opera is a way more complex making and designing today ,like the producing a motion picture. The STAR singer might not is as important as before. Image that you would just listened to Di Stefano or Callas fifty yrs back no matter what opera he/she was in. Tims changed now. Today an important opera performance requires a famous director or producer!
I cannot stop weeping.... this is a fifetime live performance... Mirella you'll be a milestone, a benchmark for any opera singer for decades to come!!
Divinità Mirellonar
Strange as it may sound, it was, in large measure, Mirella Freni's singing that convinced me, back in the Sixties when I was an undergraduate at Columbia University, just a short subway ride from the Met, that I just had to come to live in Italy. And here I am now, resident in Milan, where I have lived ever since 1980. She was always very kind to me. I particularly treasure the memory of an evening when, having just sung Mimì in Philadelphia, she gave me a lift back to Manhattan in her chauffeured limousine. We talked all the way; she in Italian and I in what was, back then, my rather rudimentary Italian (a language that I had begun studying largely because of her). A lovely person and a wonderful singer!
what a marvelous story! Amazing.
David Steven Tabbat That is a wonderful story! Are you still living in Italy ? I am thinking about moving there as I am an opera singer needing to polish my Italian! Am unsure where to settle there..Naples , Verona or Palermo..
@@birdlover7776 For reasons having to do with crime and corruption, I would advise you to avoid Naples and Palermo and to choose -- out of the three cities you have named -- Verona, a lovely and livable city.
@@birdlover7776 Among the three cities you have named, I would avoid (for reasons of inefficiency, crime and corruption) Naples and Palermo, and would recommend Verona, a lovely and livable city.
David Steven Tabbat Thank you for your response. Verona sounds lovely. Are you still in Italy or have you chosen elsewhere
Freni's voice was enticing bordering in fervor. One of the last great voices of Italy. May she rest in peace.
No tricks, no put-on gestures, just perfect singing.
She could sing the dictionary and I would still marvel at this outstanding soprano. Sheer delight to listen to anything she performs.
Loved your comment :D
Thank you for that nice reply!
Brian Allen grazie a dio che sei nata
Cuteo05 ho visto alla scal l'ultima Adriana, signora Freni, signora Cossotto, maestro Gavazzeni. meravigliosa meraviglia
you are so right
La plus grande adriana lecouvreur merci à vous de ne pas nous la faire oublier une pépite d´or ....
I have never heard the aria sung better, with such simplicity, simply beautiful, brava Mirella.
The magnificent Mirella Freni. NYC and the Metropolitan opera adored her.. She was my favorite soprano. Listen to that ovation. She had an amazing career with a phenomenal voice. RIP my dear Freni.
So sad to hear she’s gone! Beautiful woman with a beautiful voice! Requiescat in pace, Mirella!
She sang from the heart and her interpretation struck a cord in the heart of every listener.
Così desidero ricordarti, circondanta dall'ammirazione, dall'affetto che la tua splendida arte, generava in tutti noi. Grazie.
She is simply PERFECT !❤
The entire operatic world is in mourning today. Fortunately there are some excellent recordings of her magnificent voice. Requiescat in pace, Madama.
Ciao Mirella grandissima!!! Posa in pace! Feb 9, 2020. 💔💔💔😭🌹🎭
I always come back to this performance. What a sublime presence and voice!!! #RIP
Me too❤
"Io son l'umile ancella" is an aria from the opera Adriana Lecouvreur by Francesco Cilea. The English translation is "I am the humble servant of the creative spirit".
In the opera, Adriana Lecouvreur sings "Io son l'umile ancella" in response to praise from her admirers. In the aria, Adriana credits her talent to God and says that her voice is like a whisper that will die with the new day.
Here are some of the lyrics from the aria:
Io son l'umile ancella:
(I am the humble servant)
del Genio creator:
(Of the Spirit that creates)
ei m'offre la favella:
(It offers me speech)
io la diffondo ai cor:
(I pour it out into your hearts)
Del verso io son l'accento:
(I am the intonation of the verse)
l'eco del dramma uman:
(The echo of the human drama)
il fragile strumento:
(The fragile instrument)
Mite, gioconda, atroce:
(Gentle, joyous, terrible)
mi chiamo Fedeltà:
(My name is Fidelity-to-what-is)
un soffio è la mia voce:
(My voice is a breath)
che al nuovo dì morrà:
(Which will die with the new day)
Still today, this performance gives me lovely chills. Absolutely beautiful!
I’m just now learning of Freni’s passing. Very sad. I’ve spent countless hours over the years basking in the beauty of her voice. I saw her live only once, as Alice Ford in Falstaff at the Met. I believe it was in 2002. She was the oldest in the cast by many years, but she still outsang everyone.
That is so cool
Cuánto se le quiso a esta soprano lírica de Timbre aterciopelado, de gran volumen!!
Is it possible to sing this aria better? It's not possible at all! Outstanding performance
She was all perfection. RIP beloved Diva Mirella Freni.
She is now singing with the angels, RIP Mirella.
She is unparalleled. An artist like no other!
Una gran soprano lírica de gran potencia, y de larga carrera…muy inteligente, que supo escoger su repertorio y cantar hasta los 70 años , para luego ser maestra y jurado en muchos lugares del mundo.
It should be illegal to sing that beautifully! Incredible!
ç
A lo más profundo del alma. Un milagro.
Maravillosa descansa en paz queridisima Mirella que tu voz se oiga eternamente en los cielos
Her voice got nice and robust in the upper register...I love that!
???????
A most beautiful pure voice. And she gave us opera fans a lot of pleasure RIP MsFreni
grande Freni... mi favorita entre todas sin compararla con nadie ni mejor ni peor, mi favorita. Grazie Mirella per la tua bellissima voce
She's simply amazing.
God bless her soul and that of her family.
Just as beautiful as her performance in Milan, 1968!!!!!!
Freni could spin magic from thin air. I saw her onstage as Mimi, and in the final phrase of Addio senza rancor, she held and caressed that phrase like she was stroking with her hand the curves of the most beautiful antique furniture. It was amazing.
Dave Glo Wish I was there !
My late wife and I were there. Memorable.
Absolutely the best❤
I didn't realize until I was reading through the comments, she just passed a few days ago, what a tragic loss to the opera world!! RIP dear woman, your voice was so absolutely beautiful!
Luciano and Ms freni will live forever I bet they're singing together RIP to both legend's ❤❤
Amazing! What a voice, what a loss. Thank you, RUclips for preserving this for people who've never seen or heard her, and for those of us who can't get enough.
I can't believe she's gone! Rest in peace, beautiful soul.
www.findagrave.com/memorial/206965867/mirella-freni#view-photo=199306825
ruclips.net/video/OYeuItzKpxY/видео.html
Sono fiera di essere italiana. Voce sublime.❤
Mirella Freni had the voice of an angel !!!
Freni, Tebaldi and Caballe own this music. Each one is unique in vocal terms. They all 'act' with their voices. La Freni is just superb. Bravissima.
Grande, maravillosa, no necesitó show para brindar lo mejor con sus interpretaciones
No gimmicks, just perfect, natural singing, and no shaking jaw or waggling tongue on sustained tones.
Pretty much the definitive interpretation of this aria. So beautiful.
Само совершенство, спасибо, что Вы были с нами, Мирелла Френи, мы вас слушаем и будем слушать, как образец высочайшего,настоящего качественного оперного пения ...
Bravíssima, Mirela. A great singer.
Miralla Freni es única, este aria es una joya, es de una perfección y una sensibilidad absolutas....
Grandeur of soul. Thank you Mirella!
Stupenda, emozionante, meravigliosa Mirella!!!!!
Magical.
Mirella was very cleverly in her career, in her prime , she sung bell canto, then romanticism and finally verismo.
Her Adriana is unforgettable
🌹🌷🍀🌺☘️❤️
My favourite soprano!
Because of the wise husbanding of her voice, Mirella Freni managed to have one of the longest careers of any soprano, but more importantly, the quality of the voice became better and better over time and didn't diminish until the very end which came about ten years after this video. The only thing one cannot appreciate from this clip is the bloom of sound as she rose up the scale. You can get the gist of this sound in the last line of the above video...Che al novo di morrà ... on the" di" , listen to how the sound swells and multiply by ten. The note is a G# i think. How wonderful.
I heard her live twice, the first time as Aida and the second as Fedora. Both times I knew there would never be a more beautiful soprano voice than that of Mirella Freni.
Was her voice massive in the house?
@@mugrad25 I wouldn't say massive but she easily filled the house. Sounded just like she does on record.
Ms. Freni's magnificent vocal was solidly backed by the superb Met orchestra under the baton of James Levine.
Living up to the adage that dynamite comes in small packages. 03:25 sweeping goosebumps.
UNICA!!!!!!!!!!! CUANTA BELLEZA EN SU VOZ!!!
Прекрасная вокалиста, настоящая прима !!!
Her voice is just so gorgeous, it goes beyond hearing. You can see it! Don't you know?!?
Now You can sing with the angels. R.i.p.dear mirella. February 9th.2020
Bravo mirela et merci de ne pas l´oublier 🙏🙏💐🍀🎼
Espectacular. ..qué belleza...perfección. ..
Grande e umile ancella del Signore! ❤️ R.I.P. MIRELLA
Maravilhosa!!!!!!!! 😍
Simply beautiful
A true inspiration!! I love you forever and ever my dear! May you rest in eternal peace 💕💕💕💕
Perfecta, un milagro.
Que grandísima soprano! En este repertorio era única.
As I always say....The past was always better.... No point of comparison with singers from this generation. Such perfection doesn t exist on them. Present singer will not never achieve it. Today' singers "must" learn from these marvellous artists.... Brava Mirella!!!!!!!
I couldn't agree more! Today's singers are unfortunately disrespectful to traditions and lack professional humility.
The end of an era. Brava, Freni. La Studpenda!
Una scuola di canto !! ❤️
assolutamente straordinaria la Mirella Freni!
Favolosa, meravigliosa anche stupenda Mirella bravissima❤
Wonderful Mirella ❤️
I saw her last performance at La Scala, with Fiorenza ed il Topone Placido, dir M. Gavazzeni. I remember like now
Sadly I did not appreciate her earlier work when I first started listening to opera. I preferred big, rich voices. As I got older and she started performing bigger roles, I then began to listen to her earlier works and started to understand the true beauty of her voice. What an amazing artist
Whenever I listen to Freni I wonder if it is a woman or an angel singing.
MAGNIFICAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Ciao Mirella, per sempre in cielo con Luciano, le voci degli angeli
Orgoglio Italiano! Italian Pride!
sublime ♥
😱😱😱. QUESTA È. ARTE. GRANDISSIMA FRENI. 😱😱😱
Vocal Goddess.
Mirella Freni is an amazing singer, and no one would argue that fact. The only argument that bothers me in most of these comments is the disparagement of the current crop of young singers. You simply can't compare a twenty one-year-old singer fresh out of an undergraduate degree to a singer with decades of craft under her belt. Don't blame the singers for the current trend of "younger and prettier". That is a global issue. The wise young singers will, with proper guidance, chose suitable rep that will allow them to develop into great artists. Please don't blame your aesthetic issues on the fact that "young singers don't work hard". That's neither fair nor true. Have a little faith, and, if you are capable, support the programs and schools that allow promising young singers to grow into the great artists that this essential art form needs to thrive for generations to come.
wbs partially agree with you on this! The young generation is no way comparable with the great singers of golden era, which is deadly solid truth!
The main reason is that young singers today are either rising to fame too quickly or give it up soon! Opera singers career is highly risky and need a long time experience and extremely careful choosing and organising the roles in right order. The opera market today doesn't allow a RIGHT And SLOW growing period for young singers! And what's more, opera is a way more complex making and designing today ,like the producing a motion picture. The STAR singer might not is as important as before. Image that you would just listened to Di Stefano or Callas fifty yrs back no matter what opera he/she was in. Tims changed now. Today an important opera performance requires a famous director or producer!
Steve FOX b
Try this and see if you still disparage young singers.
ruclips.net/video/ErN8JDGjrHQ/видео.html
Completely flawless in every way. Brava.
Edit: except the conductor
fantastica, mirella aveva tecnica di canto molto buona, mi piace molto, la voce Brillante!
I love her voice here!
Pure class
Un anno senza La Freni 💔🤩🙏🎶🌟🎭
Nadie, absolutamente nadie en ésta aria como la gran Magda Olivero
Rest in peace wonderful Mirella ❤️
Requiescat in pace, Mirella.
And that's how THAT goes! Brava diva!!
Изумительно,волшебно,прекрасно!
Beautiful Brava Mirella
Brava!!!!!!!!
I like how they were basically storming the stage before she even sang
Legend.
Adrienne aria, 'I am but a humble servant of the great creator...' ❤🌹
R.I.P. Mirella Freni
El más alto nivel!!!!!!