Dame Margaret Price: Puccini - La Boheme, 'Sì... Mi chiamano Mimì'

Dame Margaret Berenice Price, DBE (13 April 1941 -- 28 January 2011) was a Welsh soprano. Her father, a talented amateur pianist, was opposed to a musical career, and hence she never attended a young Eisteddfod and was aiming for a career as a biology teacher. She was educated at Pontllanfraith Secondary School, near Caerphilly. At 15, her school music teacher organised an audition with Charles Kennedy Scott, who convinced her to study with him at Trinity College of Music in London and obtained a scholarship for her. Over the next few years, Price was trained as a mezzo soprano. Price was most famous for her Mozart portraits, especially Fiordiligi, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, the Contessa in The Marriage of Figaro (after having sung Cherubino and Barbarina at the beginning of her career), and Pamina in The Magic Flute. Additionally, she sang Verdi roles, such as Amelia (Un ballo in maschera, a role she also recorded with Luciano Pavarotti), Elisabetta (Don Carlos) and Desdemona (Otello), her debut role at the Met, as well as the title role in Aida (also with Pavarotti in San Francisco, which was preserved on video), Richard Strauss's Ariadne (Ariadne auf Naxos) and Adriana Lecouvreur by Cilea. Price retired to a 160-year-old farmhouse on Ceibwr Bay, part of Moylegrove near Cardigan, Ceredigion, overlooking the Irish Sea. From there, she successfully bred and showed Golden Retrievers, having the rear seats of her Chrysler removed to create what she termed a "dogmobile." She came out of retirement once to perform at a Poppy day concert at her local church, something she later commented on: "It was the most nerve-racking occasion of my life. Never again will I sing in public." Price was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her services to music in 1993... en.wikipedia.or...
Lyrics & English Translation
Yes, they call me Mimi,
But my name is Lucy
My history is brief
To cloth or to silk
I embroider at home or outside...
I am peaceful and happy
And it is my pastime
To make lilies and roses
I like these things
That have so sweet smell,
That speak of love, of spring,
That speak of dreams and of chimera
These things that have poetic names
Do you understand me?
They call me Mimi,
And why I don't know.
Alone, I make
Lunch for myself.
I am not religious,
Although I am spiritual in mind.
I live alone, alone.
There is a white little room
I look upon the roofs and heaven.
By when the thaw comes
The first sun is mine
The first kiss of April is mine!
Rose buds in a vase
Leaf and leaf I watch it!
That gentle perfume of a flower!
But the flowers that I make
Ah me! They don't have odour!
About me I would not know how to tell
I am your neighbour who come unexpectedly
to bother you.
A link to this wonderful artist's personal website: www.allmusic.co...
Please Enjoy!
I send my kind and warm regards,