Instrumotional (December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm)

Pretty voice, pretty woman. Didn't hear what I value and expect the most from this aria - the sound "come il passero" - of the bird taking flight. The voice is too heavy, too deep to portray a little bird's attempt to fly through a forest... It almost sounds heroic with all this volume, while Margherita is actually chained, in a cell, awaiting her execution, having all her loved ones killed...

Samurai9 (December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm)

Not much interpretation or expression here. Certain phrases, such as anima mia, are thrown away, when they could have meaning. I think Freni usually relied on her solid technique and growing vocal power throughout her career, rather than subtle changes in dynamics and timbre. Contrast Montserrat Caballe, another lyric soprano, who delivered this same aria with much more variety and nuance.

pasfresh123 (December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm)

Then I guess Callas, Bruna Rasa, Muzio, etc. etc. etc. got it all wrong then!

idraote (December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm)

(well, she's pretty too, even in her middle age).Here I feel a little exaggeration in the lower notes but done with so much intensity that one has to pay so much attention to notice...

idraote (December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm)

I love her as the perfect "artist". Mirella Freni has not the most beautiful voice of the century, she's "just" got a good voice, but her vocal skill, the perfect pronunciation of even the most difficul syllables, her habit of giving a personal rendering of each and every note she sings...A formidable artist, a real one, a long lasting one too! She's been singing for more than 40 years and you can't do that well unless you have a perfect technique and an excellent brain behind your pretty face

idraote (December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm)

there is no despair or exhaustion in this aria because they are not meant to be there: it's a madness aria, a young woman who used to be all sweetness and innocence but has lost her mind and is raving, therefore the shifts of register, the dramatic coloratura and the two thrills.all this with a most demanding vocal score with G and A more difficults than some top Cs

elcritico21 (December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm)

que linda mujer, y gran soprano

pasfresh123 (December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm)

bella voce. but she really doesn't get the despair and exhaustion, or even the birdies.

ElliePearl (December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm)

Loved it!

543johnson (December 31, 1969 at 6:59 pm)

Brava!