LUCIANO PAVAROTTI, 1935-2007
RTE.ie, Ireland
Sept 6 2007
Luciano Pavarotti was born on the outskirts of Modena in north-central
Italy, the son of Fernando Pavarotti, a baker and singer, and Adele
Venturi, a cigar factory worker. Although he spoke fondly of his
childhood, the family had little money its four members crowded into
a two-room apartment.
His father had a fine tenor voice but rejected a singing career because
of nervousness. World War II forced the family out of the city in 1943.
For the following year they rented a single room from a farmer in the
neighbouring countryside, where young Pavarotti developed an interest
in farming.
Pavarotti’s earliest musical influences were his father’s recordings,
most of them featuring the popular tenors of the day – Beniamino Gigli,
Giovanni Martinelli, Tito Schipa and Enrico Caruso.
At nine he began singing with his father in a small local church
choir. Also in his youth he had voice lessons with a Professor Dondi
and his wife.
After a normal childhood with a typical interest in sports – in
Pavarotti’s case soccer above all – he graduated from the Schola
Magistrale. He was interested in becoming a professional soccer player,
but his mother convinced him to train as a teacher.
He subsequently taught in an elementary school for two years but
finally allowed his interest in music to win out.
Recognising the risk involved, his father gave his reluctant consent.
Pavarotti began serious study in 1954 at the age of 19 with Arrigo
Pola, a respected teacher and professional tenor in Modena who, aware
of the family’s indigence, offered to teach without remuneration. It
was then that Pavarotti became aware that he had perfect pitch.
At about this time he met Adua Veroni, whom he married in 1961.
When Pola moved to Japan later, Pavarotti became a student of Ettore
Campogalliani, who was also teaching Pavarotti’s childhood friend,
the now well-known soprano Mirella Freni.
During his years of study Pavarotti held part-time jobs in order to
help sustain himself – first as an elementary school teacher and then,
when he failed at that, as an insurance salesman.
The first six years of study resulted in nothing more tangible than a
few recitals, all in small towns and all without pay. When a nodule
developed on his vocal chords causing a ‘disastrous’ concert in
Ferrara, he decided to give up singing.
Pavarotti attributed his immediate improvement to the psychological
release connected with this decision. Whatever the reason, the
nodule not only disappeared but, as he related in his autobiography,
‘Everything I had learned came together with my natural voice to make
the sound I had been struggling so hard to achieve.’
Pavarotti made his opera debut in the role of Rodolfo in La bohème on
29 April 1961 in the town of Reggio Emilia. He made his American debut
with the Greater Miami Opera in February 1965, singing in Donizetti’s
Lucia di Lammermoor opposite Joan Sutherland in the Miami-Dade County
Auditorium. The tenor scheduled to perform that night was ill and
had no understudy. As Ms Sutherland was traveling with him on tour,
she recommended the young Pavarotti as he was well acquainted with
the role.
Shortly after, Pavarotti made his La Scala debut in La bohème. After
an extended Australian tour he returned to La Scala where he added
Tebaldo from I Capuleti e i Montecchi to his repertoire in March
1966, with Giacomo Aragall as Romeo. His first appearance as Tonio
in Pagliacci took place at Covent Garden on 2 June that year.
He scored another major triumph in Rome on 20 November 1969 when
he sang I Lombardi opposite Renata Scotto. This was recorded on a
private label and widely distributed, as were various takes of his
I Capuleti e i Montecchi, usually with Aragall.
Early commercial recordings included a recital of Donizetti and Verdi
arias (the aria from Don Sebastiano was particularly highly regarded),
as well as a complete L’elisir d’amore with Sutherland.
His major breakthrough in the US came in February 1972, in a production
of Donizetti’s La fille du regiment at New York’s Metropolitan Opera,
in which he drove the crowd into a frenzy with his nine effortless
high Cs in the signature aria. He achieved a record 17 curtain calls.
Listen to Pavarotti’s high Cs
>From then on he began to make frequent television performances, such
as in his role as Rodolfo (La bohème) in the first Live From The Met
telecast in March 1977, which attracted one of the largest audiences
ever for a televised opera.
He won many Grammy awards and platinum and gold discs for his
performances.
In addition to those already mentioned, his La favorita with Fiorenza
Cossotto and his I puritani with Sutherland stand out.
He made his international recital debut at William Jewell College
in Liberty, Missouri, in 1973 as part of the college’s Fine Arts
Program. Perspiring before the debut, he asked for a handkerchief
and was given a white dinner napkin. The prop became a regular part
of his act from then on.
At the beginning of the 1980s, he set up The Pavarotti International
Voice Competition for young singers, performing with the winners
in 1982 in excerpts of La bohème and L’elisir d’amore. The second
competition in 1986 staged excerpts of La bohème and Un ballo in
maschera. The third competition in 1989 again staged performances of
L’elisir d’amore and Un ballo in maschera. The winners of the fifth
competition accompanied Pavarotti in performances in Philadelphia
in 1997.
Pavarotti’s pivotal step in becoming an internationally known
celebrity occurred in 1990 when his rendition of Giacomo Puccini’s
aria, ‘Nessun Dorma’ from Turandot, became the theme song of the BBC
TV coverage of the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. The aria achieved
pop status and remained his trademark song.
This was followed by the hugely successful Three Tenors concert held
on the eve of the World Cup final at the ancient Baths of Caracalla
in Rome with fellow tenors Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras and
conductor Zubin Mehta, which became the biggest selling classical
record of all time.
Throughout the 1990s, Pavarotti appeared in many well-attended outdoor
concerts, including his televised concert in London’s Hyde Park
which drew a record attendance of 150,000. In June 1993, more than
500,000 listeners gathered for his performance on the Great Lawn of
New York’s Central Park, while millions more around the world watched
on television. The following September, in the shadow of the Eiffel
Tower in Paris, he sang for an estimated crowd of 300,000.
Following on from the original 1990 concert, Three Tenors concerts
were held during the Football World Cups; in Los Angeles in 1994,
in Paris in 1998, and in Yokohama in 2002.
Pavarotti’s rise to stardom was not without occasional difficulties,
however. He earned a reputation as ‘The King of Cancellations’ by
frequently backing out of performances, and his unreliable nature
led to poor relationships with some opera houses. Ardis Krainik of
the Lyric Opera of Chicago severed the house’s 15-year relationship
with the tenor. Over an eight-year period, Pavarotti had cancelled 26
out of 41 scheduled appearances at the Lyric and the move by Krainik
to ban him for life was well-noted throughout the opera world, after
the performer walked away from a season premiere less than two weeks
before rehearsals began, saying pain from a sciatic nerve required
two months of treatment.
He also sang with U2, in the band’s 1995 song Miss Sarajevo.
In 1998, Pavarotti was presented with the Grammy Legend Award.
In 2002 Pavarotti split with his manager of 36 years, Herbert
Breslin. The breakup, which was acrimonious, was followed in 2004 by
the publication of a book by Breslin entitled The King & I, largely
critical of the singer’s acting (in opera), his ability to read music
and learn parts, and of his personal conduct.
In an interview in 2005 with Jeremy Paxman on the BBC, Pavarotti
rejected the allegation that he could not read music, though he
acknowledged he sometimes had difficulty following orchestral parts.
He held two Guinness World Records: for receiving the most curtain
calls (165) and for the best selling classical album (In Concert
by The Three Tenors, shared by fellow singers Placido Domingo and
Jose Carreras).
Also in 2003 he married his former personal assistant, Nicoletta
Mantovani, with whom he already had a daughter, Alice.
He started his farewell tour in 2004, at the age of 69, performing
one last time in old and new locations, after over four decades on
the stage.
Pavarotti gave his last performance in an opera at the New York
Metropolitan Opera on 13 March 2004 and received a 12-minute standing
ovation for his role as the painter Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca. In
December 2004 he announced a 40-city farewell tour to be produced by
Harvey Goldsmith.
On 10 February 2006 Pavarotti sang ‘Nessun Dorma’ at the 2006 Winter
Olympics Opening Ceremony in Turin. The final act of the opening
ceremony, his performance received the longest and loudest ovation
of the night from the international crowd.
Pavarotti’s one venture into film, a romantic comedy called Yes,
Giorgio (1982), was roundly panned by the critics. He can be seen to
better advantage in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s adaptation of Rigoletto
for television, released that same year, or in his more than 20 live
opera performances taped for television between 1978 and 1994, most
of them with the Metropolitan Opera, and most available on DVD.
In March 2005, Pavarotti underwent neck surgery to repair two
vertebrae. In June of the same year, he had to cancel a Three Tenors
concert in Mexico due to laryngitis.
In early 2006, he had back surgery and contracted an infection while
in the hospital, forcing cancellation of concerts in the US, Canada
and the UK.
Pavarotti was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in July 2006 and
required emergency surgery to remove the tumour. Shortly after surgery
he was reported to be ‘recovering well.’ His remaining appearances
for 2006 were cancelled, but his management anticipated that his
farewell tour would resume in early 2007.
On Thursday 9 August 2007, he was hospitalised for observation
in Modena.
On 5 September, it was reported that his health had deteriorated and
the singer was in a ‘very serious condition’. He was reported to be
in and out of consciousness multiple times, suffering kidney failure.
Luciano Pavarotti died in the early morning of 6 September at home
surrounded by his wife and four daughters.
Pavarotti annually hosted the ‘Pavarotti and Friends’ charity
concerts in his home town of Modena in Italy, joining with singers
from all parts of the music industry to raise money for several worthy
UN causes.
Concerts were held for War Child, and victims of war and civil unrest
in Bosnia, Guatemala, Kosovo and Iraq. After the war in Bosnia, he
financed and established the Pavarotti Music Centre in of Mostar to
offer Bosnia’s artists the opportunity to develop their skills. For
these contributions, the city of Sarajevo named him an honorary
citizen in 2006.
He performed at benefit concerts to raise money for victims of
tragedies such as an earthquake in December 1988 that killed 25,000
people in northern Armenia.
He was a close friend of Diana, Princess of Wales. They raised money
for the elimination of land mines worldwide. He was invited to sing at
her funeral service, but declined, as he felt he could not sing well
‘with his grief in his throat’.
In 1998, he was appointed the UN Messenger of Peace, using his fame
to raise awareness of UN issues, including the Millennium Development
Goals, HIV/AIDS, child rights, urban slums and poverty.
In 2001, Pavarotti received the Nansen Medal from the UN High
Commission for Refugees for his efforts raising money on behalf of
refugees worldwide.
Through benefit concerts and volunteer work, he raised more than
US$1.5m, more than any other individual.
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