Renowned Italian soprano Mirella Freni, dies at 84

Mirella Freni, an Italian soprano whose uncommon elegance and intensity combined with a sumptuous voice and intelligence to enthrall audiences for a half-century, has died at age 84, USA Today reported.

Freni died Sunday at her home in Modena, Italy, from a degenerative muscular disease and a series of stokes, according to her manager, Jack Mastroianni, of IMG Artists.

She was the last in a line of Italian sopranos who prompted ovations with their entrances alone, a link to singers from the golden era and earlier such as Renata Tebaldi, Licia Albanese, Magda Olivero, Maria Caniglia, Amelita Galli-Curci and Luisa Tetrazzini. Broadway playwright Albert Innaurato dubbed Freni "the last prima donna."

When Freni made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Mimi in Puccini's "La Bohème" on Sept. 29, 1965, at the old house, Zinka Milanov went backstage and told assistant manager Francis Robinson: "She's so wonderful, this girl, she sounds like a young me."

From her professional debut at Modena's Teatro Municipale as Micaëla in Bizet's "Carmen" on March 3, 1955, to her opera finale as Joan of Arc in Tchaikovsky's "The Maid of Orleans" at the Washington National Opera on April 11, 2005, Freni chose roles with care and caution.

As video became increasingly important during the second half of her career, she thrived for her ability to connect as expressively with viewers at home as she did with the “loggionisti” up in La Scala's gallery.

In a 2002 interview with The Associated Press, she recalled telling students during master classes to be wary of thinking solely about the notes on the score.