He was larger than life in so many ways, a huge man who was always battling his weight, a big booming voice that could fill the Met, and a life filled with drama. He died thursday of pancreatic cancer.
Yesterday was his funeral. The news was full of it. "The Greatest Tenor of His Generation." But even as that claim was made, there was discussion of whether he had compromised his classical music base by doing concerts with rock stars. Okay, Bono, I can see, even James Brown, but The Spice Girls? His signature tune, Nessun Dorma from Puccini's Turandot was played as his coffin left the cathedral.
More than 100,000 people (I've seen numbers ranging from 20,000 to 100,000...I went with the higher) were at his funeral in his hometown of Modena, including such diverse personalities as Franco Zeffirelli, Bono, Kofi Annan, and Andrea Bocelli (no Spice Girls?), not to mention his first wife, Adua Veroni and his second wife, 37-year-old Nicoletta Mantovani whom he left his wife for in 1996 and married in 2003.
His personal life might have been a mess, and he often looked like a large, unmade bed. He may have cancelled too many performances, but he had a large heart and a larger voice, and when he opened his mouth in song, the world listened.
He was one of the very successful Three Tenors, with the fabulous Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, which has spawned a spate of other classical trios.
Pavarotti played leading men, even without the ideal physique for the role. I remember when I was quite young watching him on TV or videotape with my folks as he played a young lover singing and hiding behind a tree. He stuck out from both sides of the tree, and we laughed heartily, but he wasn't there for his looks. He was there because his voice was one of the best in opera. I was saddened as he grew older that rather than accepting the changes of aging, he took to dying hair, beard and eyebrows an unnatural black, giving him a rather hideous look. (Yes, I color my hair, but I try to stay away from such extremes.)
For all of that, I don't mean to dis Mr. Pavarotti. When he sings "Nessun Dorma", my heart races. I heard him sing "Vesti la Giubba" from Pagaliacci by Leoncavallo, and tears ran down my face. This is the aria where Canio, who knows his wife is cheating on him, must still don his makeup and clown garb and go on stage, for the show must go on.
A wonderful voice has been stilled.
Ciao, Luciano Pavarotti.
[Links to "Vesti la Giubba" and "Nessun Dorma" are to YouTube performances by Pavarotti]
[Image from La Scena Musicale]
I had the pleasure of attending a Luciano and Friends concert when we lived in Milano. Modena was a short distance from our home and we regularly dined at Europa 92. After becoming friends with Luca and his Father Ceasare (Luciano's boyhood friend and partner at Europa)Luca asked us to attend the weekend event.What a spectacular time we had. Mr. Pavarotti was a special person in many ways. Yes, his personal life was somewhat messy, but, he was a gifted and very generous Man. I am Italian-American and am now back in the U.S. (A pity) I was so saddened and even more so over the fact that not one of our Magazines had a front page dedication to this incredibly gifted Man who brought the culture of Opera to our country. We have been reading about Anna Nicole, Brittany Spears and now again, the continuing saga of the murderous O.J. People are slithering under fences on their bellies to get into our country, I'll never figure that one out.
The contibutions to our culture from this Man have gone un-noticed. When Frank Sinatra died, we were living in Italy. Every newspapers front page had a photo of him and the words, Addio Frankie! Iwas greatly saddened that we here in America did not give Luciano anything close to an acknowledgement worthy of this great Tenor and Humanitarian. He was so loved and his art was so appreciated.
Posted by: Linda Pavone King | September 18, 2007 at 01:25 PM