Pavarotti, Luciano
(12th October 1935-6th September 2007)
He was an operatic tenor born in Modena. Italy, to a
relatively poor family.His
father was a baker and also a tenor, and his mother worked in a cigar
factory.During WWII, in 1943,
the family were forced to live in one room of a farm and here he became
interested in farming.He began making his mark as a singer
when he sang in the church choir from the time he was nine and was also
given some voice lessons, which he really didn't take much notice of at the
time, as he had his heart on being a professional footballer (soccer
player).He studied at the
Schola Magistrale and after he graduated he became a teacher rather than a
footballer on the advice of his mother.After teaching for two years he decided he wanted to
follow a career in music and after the consent of his father, on the
provision that he would only have until he was 30 to become successful or
his free room and board would be taken away, he began studying in 1959 when
he was 19 years old.Arrigo
Pola, who was a professional tenor and teacher in Modena, tutored him at
first for no fee, and with him he found that he was blessed with perfect
pitch.After marrying Adua
Veroni in 1961, making his debut in La Boheme in Reggio Emilia,
Italy, and after Arrigo Pola had moved to Japan, he studied under Ettore
Campoganelli and held jobs such in teaching and selling insurance.He gave up singing after six years
of nothing but recitals that gave no remuneration and the discovery of a
nodule on his vocal chords, which would later disappear as the stress he
was experiencing was relieved.However, by 1965 he was touring and debuted in America with the
Greater Miami Opera opposite Joan Sutherland as a replacement for the
scheduled tenor when he took ill.This was the beginning of what would result in him becoming one of
the most successful operatic tenors in history.He would appear after that in La Scala, Covent Garden,
the New York Metropolitan Opera and in hundreds of other international
venues, playing many favourite operatic leads.His numerous recordings have resulted in gold and
platinum discs and the receipt of many Grammy Awards as well as making
acclaimed broadcasts with record audiences.His real rise to fame began in 1990 when he sung Puccini's
"Nessun Dorma" as the theme song for the coverage of the football World Cup
that year and it featured heavily on the television and radio, and even on
the pop charts.At that
competition he also appeared with Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras in The
Three Tenors concert, which would prove more successful than anyone could
have imagined and spawned several more over the next few years.The recording from this concert
remains the highest seller of all time in the world of classical music.In the world of popular music he
has appeared with many artists in concert and on recordings including Elton
John and U2, appeared in a duet with Vanessa Williams on Saturday Night
Live, and is mentioned by the Bloodhound Gang in their song "Mope".In the movies he appeared in Yes,
Giorgio in 1982 but this did not meet with much success and he had far
better luck on the video and DVD releases of various opera performances as
well has being heard on the soundtracks of movies such as The Witches of
Eastwick, Analyse This, Fatal Attraction and The Family Man.Always involved with the world of
musical education he conceived The Pavarotti International Voice
Competition around 1980 and the winners of the competitions throughout the
ensuing years would all appear in one of his productions.In receipt of many awards for his
musicianship he was granted the Grammy Legend Award, Kennedy Center Honors
and holds the record for the most curtain calls in history, no less than 165.As a humanitarian he was involved
in the "Pavarotti and Friends" concerts in Modena where all the proceeds
were given to the UN and in 1998 he was named the United Nations' Messenger
in Chief.After the war in
Bosnia he founded the Pavarotti Music Center to assist budding artists in
the area and for this he received honorary citizenship of Sarajevo. Working
with Princess Diana he raised money for the elimination of land mines, was
awarded the MusiCares person of the Year by the National Academy of the
recording Arts and Sciences, the Red Cross Award for Services to Humanity, the
Freedom of London Award, and the Nansen Medal from the UN High Commision of
Refugees.He remarried in 2003
and began a farewell tour the following year, with his final opera performance
being at the New York Met in Tosca in March 2004.In December of that year he
announced another farewell tour of 40 cities but in March 2005 he had
surgery on his neck, which led to several cancellations and since that time
he was plagued with ill health.He died in September 2007 of pancreatic cancer, aged 71, leaving four daughters and a
granddaughter.
