TRACKLISTING

CD 1
1 Sì. Mi chiamano Mimì (Puccini La Boheme)
BP/Von Karajan
2 Mario! Mario! Mario! Son qui ... Ah! quegli occhi Qual occhio
3 Vissi d'arte (Puccini Tosca)
NPO/Rescigno
4-5 Viene la sera ... Vogliatemi bene
6 Un bel dì, vedremo
7 “Con onor muore“ ... Tu? tu? Piccolo Iddio! (Puccini Madama Butterfly)
WP/Von Karajan
8 In quelle trine morbide
9 Sola, perduta, abbandonata (Puccini Manon Lescaut)
PO/Sinopoli
10 Tu che di gel sei cinta (Puccini Turandot)
PO/Sinopoli
11 Ebben? Ne andrò lontana (Catalani La Wally)
12 Poveri fiori (Cilea Adriana Lecouvreur)
OTF/Roberto Abbado
13 S’allontanano alfine ... Selva opaca (Rossini Guglielmo Tell)
NPO/Chailly
14 Qual fiamma avea nel guardo ... Stridono lassù (Leoncavallo Pagliacci)
NPO/Patanè

CD 2
1 Ritorna vincitor! (Verdi Aida)
2 Ecco l’orrido campo (Verdi Un ballo in maschera)
3 Tu che le vanità (Verdi Don Carlos)
4 Mia madre aveva una povera ancella ... Piangea cantando nell'erma landa (Willow Song)
5 Ave Maria (Verdi Otello)
PO/Sinopoli
6 Come in quest’ora bruna (Verdi Simon Boccanegra)
OTAS/Claudio Abbado
7 Sul fil d’un soffio etesio (Verdi Falstaff)
Orchestra RCA Italiana/Solti
8 L’altra notte in fondo al mare (Boito Mefistofele)
NPO/De Fabritiis
9 Puskai pogibnu ya, no pryezhde (Letter Scene) (Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin)
Staatskapelle Dresden/Levine

RECORDING INFORMATION

The great Italian soprano Mirella Freni celebrates her 70th Birthday on February 27th 2005.

2005 also marks 50 years since Freni's debut in Modena as Michaëla (Carmen). This 2CD set includes some of the greatest performances ever recorded by both Decca and Deutsche Grammophon. Favourite soprano arias from Madama Butterfly, La Bohème, Tosca, Aida, Otello, Eugene Onegin and many more best-loved operas...

A much-loved and very popular artist, Freni has recorded a substantial discography for a variety of companies and among her most important recordings are those on Decca and Deutsche Grammophon. The selection of scenes and arias included in this 2-CD programme showcase her in many of her finest recordings which range from her portrayal of Nannetta (Falstaff) recorded with Sir Georg Solti in 1963 and the role with which she made her Covent Garden debut (in 1961), through to the Catalani and Cilea arias recorded with Roberto Abbado in December 1990. Also included are her classic portrayals as Mimì (La Bohème) with Herbert von Karajan (the role with which she made her La Scala debut in 1963 in Zeffirelli’s production ( with Von Karajan conducting) and New York MET debut in 1965), and Amelia (Simon Boccanegra) with Claudio Abbado in an excerpt from the legendary recording made with La Scala forces.

As her career developed Mirella Freni continued to add other roles to her repertory and these included Cio-Cio San (Madama Butterfly) — she is heard here in excerpts from Decca’s 1974 recording with Von Karajan. Other Puccini roles include Tosca and Manon Lescaut, while Verdi is further represented in a selection of arias made in the late 1980s with Giuseppe Sinopoli. During the 1980s she also added roles such as Tatiana (Eugene Onegin) — heard here in the famous “Letter scene” — to her repertory, while other verismo additions include Adriana Lecouvreur and Fedora.