VARIOUS/FILE: Legendary Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti dies aged 71 after losing his battle with cancer

Legendary Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who brought opera to the masses, died on Thursday after a battle with cancer. He was 71. Although Luciano Pavarotti's health had been seriously failing for a year, the death of the rotund, black-bearded tenor known as "Big Luciano" saddened people ranging from stars, impresarios and critics of 'bel canto' to fans who could barely afford tickets. While past opera stars often locked themselves in a gilded, elitist world, television viewers around the world heard Pavarotti sing alongside pop stars like Sting and Bono in his famous "Pavarotti and Friends" benefits for the needy. Already famous in the opera world, he rocketed to planetary superstardom when he, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras sang at Rome's Caracalla Baths during the 1990 soccer World Cup in Italy. Sales of opera albums shot up after the concert and the aria "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's Turandot, which has the famous victory line "At dawn I will win", became as much a feature of soccer fever as the usual stadium chants. Italians going to work on Thursday (September 6) reacted with sadness to the news that opera star Luciano Pavarotti, hailed by many as the greatest tenor of his generation, had died in the early hours of the morning. "I'm very sorry. He was a man who has done a lot to push opera in Italy." said Romolo Franchi, in Rome. "And he was a person who has done a lot to push Italy forward in the world." he added. "A great man of music has died. I am deeply moved, because I have followed his work for a long time" said Mario Testori, on his way to work. In Venice, visitors and entertainment industry workers at the film festival on Thursday (September 6) woke up to the news of opera singer Luciano Pavarotti's death. While morning newspapers were still running articles about Pavarotti's deteriorating health, the news of the tenor's death at 5 a.m. (0300gmt) quickly spread amongst journalists and visitors arriving for the early morning movie screenings. Italian festival attendee Matteo Logreco said Pavarotti had not been given enough acknowledgement in his home country following his success abroad. "He represented the voice of Italy but I have to say, that Pavarotti, like many Italian artists travelled outside of Italy to acquire fame and when he returned he was boycotted for this. The authorities should care more for the Italian artists," he said. "I am sad, for me it's something touching because I live and work in Modena and he was sort of a local myth," another festival-goer, Marco Cipolloni said. The rotund, black-bearded tenor known as "Big Luciano" helped bring opera to the masses and performed to vast stadium audiences round the world. Pavarotti shot to fame with a stand-in appearance at Covent Garden in 1963 and soon had critics gushing. His big break came thanks to another Italian opera great, Giuseppe di Stefano, who dropped out of a London performance of "La Boheme" in 1963. Covent Garden had lined up "this large young man" as a possible stand-in -- and a star was born. In 1972 he famously hit nine high C's in a row in "Daughter of the Regiment" at New York's Metropolitan Opera, which he referred to as "my home". His last public singing performance was at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Turin in February 2006. In July last year, Pavarotti underwent surgery in New York for pancreatic cancer and retreated to his villa in Modena. He had to cancel his first planned public reappearance a few months later. Pavarotti was taken to a hospital in Modena last month and treated for more than two weeks. He was released on Aug. 25, and spent his final hours at home with family and friends nearby, the statement said. Robson said that up until just weeks before his death, Pavarotti gave several hours each day to teaching his pupils at his summer villa in Pesaro, on Italy's Adriatic Coast. Pavarotti launched an academy for young singers in Modena two years ago. "He was also planning to complete a recording of sacred songs and unveil the next phase of the Pavarotti International Voice Competition," the statement said. In 2003, Pavarotti married Nicoletta Mantovani, an assistant 34 years his junior and younger than his three daughters, after an acrimonious divorce from Adua, his wife of 37 years. As Nicoletta was bearing twins, the pregnancy ran into complications and their son Riccardo was stillborn. He is survived by Nicoletta, their four-year-old daughter, Alice, as well as three daughters from Pavarotti's first marriage.

ITN Source | September 12, 2007

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