September 30, 2005. Copyright 2005, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Luciano Pavarotti -- operaÕs biggest star
By Elisabeth Ribbans

LONDON, September 30, Graphic News:  The worldÕs most famous tenor, Luciano Pavarotti, is credited more than any other singer with bringing opera to the masses. Over the past 45 years, he has given more than 2,000 performances in over 60 countries and sold more than 100 million recordings -- almost certainly justifying the claim made by Decca, the label to which he has remained faithful since his earliest days, that Pavarotti is Òthe most popular artist in the history of classical recordingÓ. ItÕs no mean achievement for a working-class boy from small-town Italy, who never sings in German, rarely in French or English, and admits to having difficulty reading a full orchestral score.

During his illustrious career Pavarotti has appeared with a host of fabled operatic stars -- including Dame Joan Sutherland and Montserrat Caballe -- some of the most legendary conductors, such as Leonard Bernstein, Sir Georg Solti and Herbert von Karajan, and graced the stages of the most important opera houses, from La Scala in Milan to the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. In 1986, he gave the first concert ever held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China.

But it was in the 1990s that Pavarotti became a truly global celebrity -- a transformation that kicked off when his version of the Nessun Dorma aria from PucciniÕs Turandot was chosen as the theme to the 1990 soccer World Cup, hosted by Italy. That event also marked the debut of The Three Tenors, PavarottiÕs collaboration with the two great Spanish opera stars Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo, an enduring partnership that further enhanced his popularity. Indeed the recording of the concert the three of them -- all enthusiastic football fans -- gave in the magical setting of RomeÕs Baths of Caracalla on the eve of the World Cup Final has become the bestselling classical album of all time. Massive televised concerts followed -- including those in LondonÕs Hyde Park, New YorkÕs Central Park, where he drew a crowd of 500,000, and at the Eiffel Tower in Paris. His ÒaccessibilityÓ led some critics to accuse the maestro of Òdumbing downÓ. PavarottiÕs view is that Òmusic, like sport, should be for everybodyÓ.

Born in Modena, Italy, on October 12, 1935, the only child of Adele Pavarotti, a factory worker, and her husband Fernando, a baker, his first taste of fame came with success in the local football team. His introduction to music arrived when he joined ModenaÕs choral group, of which his father, a gifted tenor, was also a member. While on a concert tour to Wales, the teenage Pavarotti scooped the Llangollen International Singing Competition and returned home a hero. Serious musical study followed and in 1961 he won the prestigious Concorso Internazionale -- making his operatic debut as Rodolfo in La Boheme at the opera house in Reggio Emilia. He made an immediate impact and was soon in demand throughout Italy and later worldwide.

It was in America in 1972 that Pavarotti produced one of his legendary performances, when in La Fille du Regiment at New YorkÕs Metropolitan Opera House he effortlessly sang nine high Cs, prompting the audience to erupt in a spontaneous ovation and earning him the nickname ÒKing of the High CsÓ.

He has won five Grammys (including the ÒLegend AwardÓ) and many other international honours. In 2000 he was appointed a UN messenger for peace by UN secretary general Kofi Annan, and in 2001 the UNHCR presented him with the Nansen award for helping to raise more money for the UN refugee agency than any other private individual. He is also known for his work for the Red Cross, particularly in campaigning with Diana, Princess of Wales, against landmines.

Despite problems with his weight -- which friends and detractors admit has affected his health and his acting ability -- and with the Italian tax authorities, the 160kg singer has always bounced back.

To coincide with the international show-jumping competition that he stages each year in Modena, he hosts the annual Pavarotti and Friends concerts, raising millions of dollars for medical and educational causes in trouble spots around the world and seeing him perform with diverse artists such as Liza Minnelli, Grace Jones, Eric Clapton and Meat Loaf.

Pavarotti -- who reportedly has BizetÕs Carmen as the ringtone on his cellphone -- gave his final operatic performance at New YorkÕs Met in 2004, in the role of Cavaradossi in Tosca, and is currently on a worldwide farewell tour. No final date has yet been announced but it is possible that the venue will be Reggio Emilia, New York or Milan.

After his retirement from performing, Pavarotti says he plans to focus on teaching promising young singers at the Modena Music Academy, a facility he founded with conductor-pianist Leone Magiera. He also plans to spend more time with his wife, his former assistant Nicoletta Mantovani, 35, and their two-year-old daughter Alice. He has three adult daughters, Lorenza, Cristina and Giuliana by his 35-year marriage to Adua Veroni, which ended after his relationship with Mantovani became public knowledge. In 2002 he became a grandfather.
/ENDS