Mirella Freni

Career Trajectory

Mirella Freni's ascent from a Modena prodigy to one of the twentieth century's most celebrated lyric sopranos was marked by the wise counsel of Beniamino Gigli to delay her career, allowing her voice to mature into an instrument of crystalline purity and effortless technique. Her international breakthrough came through performances at Glyndebourne in the early 1960s, but her 1963 La Scala debut as Mimì under Karajan and Zeffirelli crystallized her international stardom and established the role as her artistic signature. Over five decades, she became the soprano of choice for the great Puccini and Mozart heroines, combining technical mastery with profound dramatic insight, and later devoted herself to mentoring the next generation through masterclasses and her own conservatory in Modena.