Opera star Mirella Freni dies at 84

MIRELLA Freni, whose lyrical voice and bravura performances in “Carmen,” “La Boheme” and “The Marriage of Figaro” throughout a 50-year career made her one of the world’s most beloved operatic sopranos, died Feb 9 at her home in Modena, Italy.

She was 84. Her death was announced by her longtime manager, Jack Mastroianni, who said she had “a long degenerative illness and a series of strokes.”

Freni, who appeared at the world’s leading opera houses, was sometimes called “the last prima donna.”

She was a childhood friend of opera superstar Luciano Pavarotti and was a lyric soprano known for her brilliant technique and purity of tone, with an almost girlish quality that never seemed to age. — Bang Showbiz