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Opera great Pavarotti dead at 71
Yahoo/AFP ^

Posted on 09/06/2007 5:32:42 AM PDT by nuconvert

Opera great Pavarotti dead at 71

by Ljubomir Milasin

Opera legend Luciano Pavarotti, whose glorious tenor voice, showmanship and crossover celebrity turned him into a global superstar, died Thursday at his home in Italy at the age of 71.

Hailed by many as the greatest tenor of his generation, Pavarotti passed away during the night at his villa near the northern city of Modena after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

"His condition progressively worsened up to this morning," said Antonio Frassoldati, one of the star's team of doctors. "He was always totally conscious of the situation, he always sought to fight the disease ... and he was very calm."

The funeral will be held at Modena Cathedral on Saturday, said the city's mayor Giorgio Pighi.

Pavarotti -- known in his prime for the clarity of his voice and ability to hit high Cs with ease -- broke into the opera world when he won a competition in 1961.

He went on to perform across Europe before crossing the Atlantic in 1965 for a production of Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor" in Miami, co-starring famed Australian soprano Joan Sutherland as Lucia.

It was with Sutherland in February 1972 that Pavarotti took London's Covent Garden and the New York Metropolitan Opera by storm with a sparkling production of a Donizetti favourite, "La Fille du Regiment".

"Luciano Pavarotti was one of the finest singers of our time," the Royal Opera House in London said in a statement.

"He had a unique ability to touch people with the emotional and brilliant quality of his voice. He was a man with the common touch and the most extraordinary gift. He will be truly missed by millions," the statement said.

To the shock of some classical music purists, the larger than life singer extended his appeal far beyond the operatic world, collaborating with pop musicians like Sting and U2's Bono.

In 1991, a crowd of 150,000, including the Prince and Princess of Wales, braved the rain and cold in London's Hyde Park to hear him sing.

The previous year Pavarotti hit an even wider audience when his performance of the aria "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's "Turandot" was chosen as the theme music for football's 1990 World Cup finals, held in his native Italy.

He sung Nessun Dorma during his last major performance, at the opening of the Winter Olympics in Turin in February 2006.

Among his best-known initiatives in recent years were his appearances with two other leading singers, Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo, known as the "Three Tenors", and the annual "Pavarotti and Friends" concerts in Modena.

Carreras mourned the loss of a "great artist," friend, cook and formidable card player.

"The best memories are the ones in intimacy," the Spanish tenor said. "He was a very good friend for his friends and a great poker player."

As news of his death spread, the Opera House in Vienna raised a black flag of mourning and other stars from the world of opera and beyond were quick to pay tribute.

Sutherland told BBC radio that there was "no question" that Pavarotti's unique voice ranked him among opera's greats.

"It was incredible to stand next to it and sing along with it," the 80-year-old Australian star, nicknamed "La Stupenda", said.

"The quality of the sound was quite different -- you knew immediately it was Luciano singing."

She added that she had seen Pavarotti recently and he was "not the same person at all".

Italian film director Franco Zeffirelli said: "There were tenors and then there was Pavarotti," adding: "It is thanks to Luciano Pavarotti that the culture of opera spread to new generations."

Pavarotti's success also attracted the attention of the society columns.

He left his wife Adua in 1996 after 35 years of marriage and three grown-up daughters for his secretary Nicoletta Mantovani, whom he married in 2003, and with whom he had one child.

Since undergoing surgery for cancer in 2006, Pavarotti had at least five rounds of chemotherapy. He was hospitalised again on August 8 with a fever, and was discharged more than two weeks later after a battery of tests.

This summer, during a ceremony in honour of the singer on the island of Ischia near Naples, Mantovani said Pavarotti had been feeling well and was preparing a new album.

Early Wednesday, Pavarotti had expressed his pride at being the first to receive a new "cultural excellence" prize in Italy.

He said he was "full of emotion and gratitude ... because it gives me the opportunity to continue to celebrate the magic of a life spent in the service of art."

The death of Pavarotti is the second to rock the opera world in recent months. Acclaimed American soprano Beverly Sills died of cancer at her New York home in July. She was 78.

Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa, music director of the Vienna State Opera, said he was "shocked and very sad" at the loss of a great friend and singer.

"His tenor was so distinguished that I could immediately recognise it whenever I heard his songs at places like restaurants," Ozawa said.

Tributes also poured in from the political world, with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi mourning the loss of "a very great voice of the musical world and of Italy."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Pavarotti had "seduced the entire world" and defended the singer's decision to sometimes stray far from the traditional operatic repertoire.

"Via the marriage of styles, this great tenor brought ever greater audiences over to classical music," Sarkozy said.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: ijustwokeup; obituary; opera; pavarotti; yesterday
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1 posted on 09/06/2007 5:32:44 AM PDT by nuconvert
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To: nuconvert

Sad to see such a brilliant performer leave us. We are all the lesser for this. The article says some believed he was then greatest tenor of his generation. My feeling is was the best ever.


2 posted on 09/06/2007 5:39:51 AM PDT by Eagles Talon IV
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To: nuconvert

Pavarotti had not one, but two children (twins) with his second wife- his baby son died at birth. They are together now. God Rest them both.


3 posted on 09/06/2007 5:40:21 AM PDT by silverleaf (Fasten your seat belts- it's going to be a BUMPY ride.)
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4 posted on 09/06/2007 5:45:06 AM PDT by nuconvert ("Terrorism is not the enemy. It is a means to the ends of militant Islamism." MZJ)
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To: nuconvert

I regret so much that I never got to hear him live. What a magnificent voice!


5 posted on 09/06/2007 5:46:29 AM PDT by Clintons Are White Trash (Lynn Stewart, Helen Thomas , Molly Ivins, Maureen Dowd - The Axis of Ugly)
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To: Clintons Are White Trash

The choir of angels is one tenor stronger today.


6 posted on 09/06/2007 5:52:20 AM PDT by Joe 6-pack (Que me amat, amet et canem meum)
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Pavarotti performing Ave Maria

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uYrmYXsujI&mode=related&search=


7 posted on 09/06/2007 5:54:46 AM PDT by nuconvert ("Terrorism is not the enemy. It is a means to the ends of militant Islamism." MZJ)
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To: nuconvert
Every Christmas I dig out his Christmas Album I bought back in the early 80's (for you kids that's a big round thing made of of vinyl that has music on it and you put it on a 'record player'). His Ave Maria still makes me choke up.

He will be missed.

8 posted on 09/06/2007 5:55:56 AM PDT by Condor51 (Rudy makes John Kerry look like a Right Wing 'Gun Nut' Extremist)
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To: nuconvert

RIP Luciano.


9 posted on 09/06/2007 5:58:35 AM PDT by PGalt
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Pavarotti performing Nessun Dorma

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdTBml4oOZ8&mode=related&search=


10 posted on 09/06/2007 5:59:01 AM PDT by nuconvert ("Terrorism is not the enemy. It is a means to the ends of militant Islamism." MZJ)
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To: nuconvert
*** Pavarotti performing Ave Maria***

Now you did it (wiping tears).
(yeah grown men choke up)

11 posted on 09/06/2007 6:02:19 AM PDT by Condor51 (Rudy makes John Kerry look like a Right Wing 'Gun Nut' Extremist)
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To: Condor51

Pavarotti had SMILE wrinkles, always jovial.

The world seems much move quiet today knowing he is now
silent.


12 posted on 09/06/2007 6:05:24 AM PDT by alisasny (RIP Lt. Kevin “Kojak” Davis BLUE ANGELS #6 THANKYOU!!)
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To: nuconvert

He was the greatest. I met him in 1982 when he did a concert at the University of Illinois in a smallish theatre. We went backstage and he gave his autograph for everyone that attended, which I still have.


13 posted on 09/06/2007 6:08:03 AM PDT by Rennes Templar ("The future ain't what it used to be".........Yogi Berra)
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To: nuconvert

I was fortunate enough to hear him sing Pagliacci / Cavalleria Rusticana at the Met when I was a young aspiring musician and he was at his peak. Rest his soul.


14 posted on 09/06/2007 6:14:06 AM PDT by Cosmo (Liberalism is for girls)
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To: Rennes Templar

He was one of music’s great ambassadors. I met him as well back when he was doing master classes at Juilliard. Only Itzhak Perlmann rivals him in raw enthusiasm and grace.

The greats of classical music have been slowly dyng off over the last 20 years, but they aren’t being replaced. Very sad. My heroes were my parents heroes.


15 posted on 09/06/2007 6:20:11 AM PDT by Cosmo (Liberalism is for girls)
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To: Rennes Templar

I would treasure that autograph


16 posted on 09/06/2007 6:20:45 AM PDT by nuconvert ("Terrorism is not the enemy. It is a means to the ends of militant Islamism." MZJ)
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To: nuconvert

Believe me I do! I bring it out once in a while to show off to visitors.


17 posted on 09/06/2007 6:23:57 AM PDT by Rennes Templar ("The future ain't what it used to be".........Yogi Berra)
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To: nuconvert
Pavarotti is the product of western culture. Where is his counterpart in the Muslim and Eastern cultures? Where else can an individual excite the masses with the beauty of art?
18 posted on 09/06/2007 6:25:11 AM PDT by LoneRangerMassachusetts (The only good Mullah is a dead Mullah. The only good Mosque is the one that used to be there.)
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To: Clintons Are White Trash

I got to see him live. His voice had a resonance that made the hair on my arms stand up. I have heard that Streisand has the same effect. (shut up and sing).

What an extraordinary gift he had and so glad he shared it.


19 posted on 09/06/2007 6:25:21 AM PDT by Aria (NO RAPIST ENABLER FOR PRESIDENT!!!)
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To: Cosmo

Pavarotti in the mid to late 70’s thru early 80’s was at his peak, I think. Though I would listen to him at time.
;~ )


20 posted on 09/06/2007 6:26:27 AM PDT by nuconvert ("Terrorism is not the enemy. It is a means to the ends of militant Islamism." MZJ)
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