Soprano Mirella Freni and Bass Nicolai Ghiaurov
Two conversations with Bruce Duffie
http://www.bruceduffie.com/freni.html
Mirella Freni, born Mirella Fregni on 27 February 1935, is an Italian opera soprano whose repertoire includes Verdi, Puccini, Mozart and Tchaikovsky. Freni was married for many years to the Bulgarian bass Nicolai Ghiaurov, with whom she performed and recorded.
Freni was born into a working-class family in Modena; her mother and tenor Luciano Pavarotti's mother worked together and an aunt was the soprano Valentina Bartolomasi. [Freni and Pavarotti would later perform and record together many times.] She was a musically gifted child, and when 10 years old sang "Un bel dì vedremo" in a radio competition. Tenor Beniamino Gigli warned her, however, that she risked ruining her voice and advised her to give up singing until she was older. She resumed singing at the age of 17.
Nicolai Ghiaurov (or Nikolai Gjaurov, Nikolay Gyaurov, Bulgarian: Николай Гяуров) (September 13, 1929 – June 2, 2004) was a Bulgarian opera singer and one of the most famous basses of the postwar period. He was admired for his powerful, sumptuous voice, and was particularly associated with roles of Mussorgsky and Verdi. Ghiaurov married the Bulgarian pianist Zlatina Mishakova in 1956 and Italian soprano Mirella Freni in 1978, and the two singers frequently performed together. They lived in Modena until Ghiaurov's death in 2004 of a heart attack.
photos
https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf=ALeKk00LAGAwT7opZkLoDeCvynJJNbLJ-w:1584168797463&q=Khovanshchina,opera+Nikolaj+Gjaurov&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjZl7_TsJnoAhUZi8MKHXytCyUQsAR6BAgKEAE