BARGAIN OF THE MONTH
Great Singers Live : Mirella Freni
Francesco CILEA (1866-1950)
Adriana Lecouvreur
Io son l'umile ancella [3:34]
Giacomo PUCCINI (1858-1924)
La Bohème
Si, mi chiamano Mimi [4:43]
Quando me'n vo* [2:49]
Tosca
Vissi d'arte [3:20]
Turandot
Tu, che di gel sei cinta [2:36]
Georges BIZET (1838-1875)
Carmen
C'est des contrebandiers le refuge ordinaire [6:27]
Jules MASSENET (1842-1912)
Manon
Adieu, notre petite table [4:30]
Giuseppe VERDI (1813-1901)
Aida
Ritorna vincitor* [7:17]
Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)
Recitativo and Aria:
E Susanna non vien! - Dove sono...* [7:02]
Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893)
Eugene Onegin
Und sei's mein Untergang*
(Puskai pogibnu ya, no pryezhde)
‘Letter Scene’ (Sung in German) [13:48]
Francesco CILEA (1866-1950)
Adriana Lecouvreur
Io son l'umile ancella* [3:41]
Mirella Freni (soprano)
Munich Radio Symphony Orchestra/Kurt Eichhorn and Vladimir Ghiaurov*
rec. 3 October 1971, live, Congress Hall, Deutsches Museum, Munich, Germany
(tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 7); 30 May 1987, live, Philharmonie, Gasteig, Munich (tracks
3, 8, 9, 10, 11); 16 January 1983, live, Congress Hall, Deutsches Museum,
Munich Germany (track 4)
No sung texts provided
BR KLASSIK 900303 [59:42]
One of a great line of Italian sopranos, Mirella Freni at the Metropolitan
Opera, New York announced her farewell to a long and distinguished career
in May 2005. The event was cause for triple celebration as it marked her seventieth
birthday, her fiftieth anniversary on the operatic stage and forty years with
the Metropolitan Opera Company.
The present BR Klassik release is taken from recordings made at a series of
‘Sunday Concerts’ in Munich. Initiated in 1952 by Alfred Schröter
head of light classics at Bavarian Broadcasting these live radio concerts
were first broadcast in 1952 the same year as the Munich RSO was founded.
The disc starts and concludes with performances of Cilea’s act I aria
Io son l'umile ancella from Adriana Lecouvreur. This was catches
Freni in 1971 with a noticeably strong projection to her singing. Her expressive
tone supplements the astonishingly heady atmosphere of Cilea’s writing.
The extended note at the aria’s conclusion was quite breathtaking. The
same Cilea aria is also heard around fifteen years later with Freni now in
her fifties sounding equally sensational. Freni’s voice has noticeably
mellowed but with additional hues. The climax at the conclusion is once again
quite wonderful.
I especially Freni’s Puccini. Mimi from La Bohème was
a signature role for Freni. From act I Si, mi chiamano Mimi is delivered
with rapt tenderness and smooth control. I felt the hairs lift on the back
of my neck such was the effect. As the singer Musetta in act II Quando
me'n vo also known as ‘Musetta's Waltz’ one immediately
notices the impressive weight of Freni’s colourful timbre and her wonderfully
even vibrato. A fine example of Freni’s exceptional diction and even
vibrato is the much loved Vissi d'arte from act II of Tosca
where she soars gloriously to the heavens. From 1971 in Tu, che di gel
sei cinta from act III of Turandot I was struck by the girlish
sound to her voice and her ability to build a stupendous climax.
From act III of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage
of Figaro) in the role of Countess Almaviva singing E Susanna non vien!
- Dove sono... Freni conveys a heartfelt and often reverential quality.
As Tatyana in the celebrated ‘letter scene’ from Tchaikovsky’s
Eugene Onegin Freni’s durability was clear managing to vary her
tone as the scene progressed. In this aria Tchaikovsky writes deliciously
for woodwind instruments. I found the timbre and phrasing of the oboist quite
exceptional and the playing of the principal flute also took the ear.
The Munich Radio Symphony are on splendid form. It is hard to fault this first
rate orchestra who provide sensitive and committed accompaniment throughout.
The sound quality is to a consistently high standard with an especially impressive
balance. Also provided are interesting if rather concise booklet notes. Sadly
there are no texts.
I just couldn’t stop playing this disc which is not surprising given
that Freni has one of the finest soprano voices I have ever heard.
Michael Cookson
I just couldn’t stop playing this disc which is not surprising given
that Freni has one of the finest soprano voices I have ever heard.