papidou1934 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

Mirella a une voix magnifique,mais cet aria n'est pas dans son registre,dommage!

Instrumotional (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

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 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

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 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

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

idraote (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

(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 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

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 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

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 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

que linda mujer, y gran soprano

pasfresh123 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

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

ElliePearl (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

Loved it!