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Tag: Mirella Freni

Remembering Freni Price Goldsmith on WWFM

There will be plenty of drama this afternoon on The Classical Network, as we remember operatic superstar Mirella Freni. Freni died yesterday at the age of 84. We’ll hear her in one of her most celebrated roles, as Mimi, with her childhood friend, Luciano Pavarotti, singing Rodolfo.

Then Freni will appear as Micaela, in Bizet’s “Carmen.” Today also happens to be the anniversary of the birth of Leontyne Price. Price will sing the title role on that very same recording.

We’ll even find time for mellifluous, dark-hued bass Cesare Siepi, also born on this date.

Not all of the drama will take place on the operatic stage, however. Today is also the birthday of the great Jerry Goldsmith. Expect a substantial medley of some of his most enduring film scores.

Along the way, we’ll head back to the Baroque with Johann Melchior Molter and hear music by the 20th century Canadian composer Jean Coulthard.

Drama is our middle name, from 4 to 7 p.m EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

PHOTOS: Jerry Goldsmith (top) with, left to right, Leontyne Price, Mirella Freni and Luciano Pavarotti, and Price (again) with Cesare Siepi

February 10, 2020
Mirella Freni Soprano Dies at 84

Golden Era soprano Mirella Freni has died. A childhood friend of Luciano Pavarotti, the two actually shared the same wet nurse, as both their mothers worked in a cigarette factory. The children even sometimes wore identical clothing. Later, of course, they would be teamed in the opera house and on recordings.

Freni won acclaim early with her radiant singing as Mimi, Micaëla, Nanetta, and Susanna. By the early ‘70s, she began tackling some of the heavier roles, such as Desdemona and Aida. Even so, she was realistic about how much stress her voice could handle, and she selected her roles carefully.

In the early ‘80s, she married Bulgarian bass Nicolai Ghiaurov, her second husband. He encouraged her to expand her repertoire to include Russian roles. She went on to become a notable Tatyana in Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin.”

Freni was 84 years-old. In an afternoon in which I’ll also remember Leontyne Price and Cesare Siepi on their birthdays (to say nothing of film composer Jerry Goldsmith, on his), I’ll celebrate Freni’s artistry, from 4 to 7 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

February 10, 2020

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