She was considered Herbert von Karajan’s favorite singer, was a friend of Maria Callas, and grew up with Luciano Pavarotti: Mirella Freni.
At the age of ten, after winning a singing competition, Mirella was advised to protect her voice: That way she would become a great singer one day, tenor Beniamino Gigli prophesied to her. She followed the advice: Mirella didn\u2019t sing for many years, leaving her voice enough space to develop. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the age of 19, Freni made her debut at the Teatro Communale in Modena: she played the role of Mica\u00ebla in Bizet’s Carmen<\/em>. Following the advice from her childhood years had paid off: Freni was celebrated. The ability to know the limit of her own voice accompanied Freni throughout her career. She didn\u2019t sing roles that would ruin her voice. After her successful debut, she did everything in her power to gain more experience in the opera world: in 1961, she took on the role of Nanetta in Falstaff<\/em> (Giuseppe Verdi) for a performance at Covent Garden London. On January 31, 1963, a new production of La Boh\u00e8me<\/em> premiered at Teatro alla Scala: Herbert von Karajan conducted, Franco Zeffirelli directed. The role of Mim\u00ec was played by Mirella Freni. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Herbert von Karajan was enthusiastic about Freni’s voice \u2013 from then on he became an influential supporter of the Italian soprano. One year later, a small shadow came across her rising star: Karajan had the idea to initiate a new production of Traviata<\/em> (Giuseppe Verdi). Karajan’s last new production of the Traviata<\/em> went anything but well: it was 1957 when Maria Callas agreed with Herbert von Karajan to sing the Traviata seven times during the festival summer. When the contract was to be signed on May 4, 1957, no agreement could be reached: Karajan had to stage the Traviata<\/em> without Maria Callas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With these forecasts, Karajan made a new attempt \u2013 this time Mirella Freni was to sing Violetta. The maestro was convinced that Mirella Freni was the right one for the Violetta. But again the maestro had no luck with his new production: there were no contractual difficulties, but Mirella Freni was booed, the audience did not appreciate her interpretation. Later, Mirella Freni made insinuations that it had been a hoax: She was pelted with all sorts of objects from the audience that opera-goers usually didn\u2019t bring to the opera. It was to remain the only flop in Mirella Freni’s decades-long career.
It wasn’t easy for Mirella to wait so long to sing: the desire to finally perform grew stronger in her teenage years. But she always remembered the advice that the tenor Gigli had given her… <\/p>\n\n\n\nLa Prudentissima <\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Once Karajan invited her to sing the title role in Turandot<\/em> (Giacomo Puccini). It was an offer that did not come in every day: The honor of singing under Maestro Karajan was not given to every singer.
But Freni turned it down: she was convinced that the role of Turandot was beyond her vocal range.
One of the secrets behind Freni’s decades-long singing career was not to accept the first available engagement. Even if the offer came from Karajan.
It was not economic interests that came first, nor the prestige of a role, but the music and the quality of what was performed.
It was not without reason that Mirella Freni was christened La Prudentissima<\/em> (the careful singer) by Italian opera lovers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A year later she made her debut at the Glyndebourne Festival as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro<\/em> (Mozart). <\/p>\n\n\n\nInfluential patron<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
That production also made a guest appearance in Vienna on November 3, 1963 \u2013 but not without incident:
When the Vienna State Opera union noticed that Karajan had hired not only the entire Scala ensemble but also the maestro suggeritore, the conductor’s assistant from Italy, Karajan and the union broke up: Karajan was already on his way to his conductor’s podium and the Austrian president had taken his seat when the strike order came.
No performance took place that evening \u2013 but that was in no way to hinder the career of Mirella Freni. <\/p>\n\n\n\nFlop or hoax?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Herbert von Karajan was not dissuaded by this flop and continued to support the soprano: The year 1963 marked the beginning of a 17-year musical collaboration between Karajan and Freni, which manifested itself in particular through numerous recordings. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n