Modena, February 9 - Opera star and great soprano Mirella Freni died in her home in Modena after a long illness on Sunday, sources said. She would have turned 85 on February 27. Freni's was one of the most beautiful and distinctive voices in opera and she brought Italian 'bel canto' signing to the world. She was the same age and from the same city as longtime partner, the supertenor Luciano Pavarotti, with whom she recorded some of the most memorable duets in opera history. When he died in 2007 she said "I have lost a brother". After debuting in 1955 at the age of 20, Freni went on to perform at the world's greatest opera houses including La Scala in Milan, the Metropolitan in New York, the Paris Opera, the Bolshoj in Moscow, Covent Garden in London, Staatsoper in Vienna, the Festspielhaus in Salisburgo, the Colon in Buenos Aires, the Opera of Washington, and the National Theatre in Tokyo, to name a few. She worked with conductors and producers including Von Karajan, Giulini, Pretre, Kleiber, Solti, Abbado, Sinopoli, Muti, Osawa, Visconti, Strehler, Zeffirelli, Ronconi, Barrault, and Ponnelle. In 2005 New York's Metropolitan organised a gala for the 40th anniversary of her first performance there and her 50 year career. In 2015 La Scala and Modena's Pavarotti Theatre devoted an evening to her. Freni had "a beautiful and well-schooled voice and a charming stage presence", according to her Wikipedia entry. Born Mirella Fregni, in Modena, she studied at the Bologna Music Conservatory with Ettore Campogalliani. She made her debut in her hometown in 1955, as Micaela in Carmen. That same year, she married pianist Leone Magiera, with whom she had a daughter, whom she called Micaela. After winning the Viotto vocal competition in 1957, she sang with the Netherlands Opera, then was invited at the Glyndebourne Festival, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 1961. She made her debut at La Scala in Milan in 1962. Her New York Metropolitan Opera debut came in 1965, as Mimi in La bohème, a role she remained closely associated with throughout her career. She began her career by singing soubrette roles, such as Susanna, Zerlina, Adina, Nanetta, etc., and then moved to more lyric roles such as Mimi, Marguerite, Juliet, etc., and eventually more dramatic roles such as Violetta, Amelia, Desdemona, Cio-Cio-San, Tosca, Medea, Wally, Maddalena, Giulia etc., with equal success. After her divorce from Magiera, she married Bulgarian bass Nicolai Ghiaurov in 1981.