Mirella Freni

Ranking among modern history’s most renowned bel canto sopranos, Mirella Freni mixed nimbleness and precision with dramatic heft. She was born in 1935 in Modena, Italy, and took an interest in opera at a young age, winning a national competition at 12 with a Puccini aria. She made her stage debut in 1955—in her hometown—as Micaëla in Carmen (1875), a role to which she would return throughout her career. In 1963, Freni became the toast of the Italian opera world with her portrayal of Mimì in Franco Zeffirelli's production of La Bohème (1896) at La Scala. It remains one of the opera’s defining stagings. As her star rose internationally in the late 1960s, Freni unveiled her celebrated Juliette in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette (1867) at the Metropolitan Opera, further illustrating her ability to communicate deep emotion while performing technically demanding lyric roles. In the 1970s and '80s, Freni pushed beyond her established comfort zone with heavier dramatic roles, most notably in Verdi operas including Otello (1887) and Aida (1871). Her expressive performances have been widely disseminated through her prolific videography, the 1974 film of Madama Butterfly (1904) with Plácido Domingo being a standout. Freni retired from performing at the age of 70 to focus on teaching, and she died in Modena in 2020.