Luciano Pavarotti

The son of a baker who was an amateur singer, Pavarotti was born October 12, 1935, in Modena. He had a meagre upbringing, though he said it was rich with happiness.

As Pavarotti himself put it, his family had very little, but then he couldn`t imagine one could have any more.

As a boy, Pavarotti showed more interest in soccer than his studies, but he also was fond of listening to his father`s recordings of tenor greats like Beniamino Gigli, Tito Schipa, Jussi Bjoerling and Giuseppe Di Stefano, his favourite.

Among his close childhood friends was Mirella Freni, who would eventually become a soprano and an opera great herself. The two studied singing together and years later ended up making records and concerts together, according to Elvio Giudici, an Italian opera critic.

In his teens, Pavarotti joined his father, also a tenor, in the church choir and local opera chorus. He was influenced by the American movie actor-singer Mario Lanza. Pavarotti revealed once that as a teenager, he would watch Mario Lanza movies and then imitate him at home in the mirror.

Singing was still nothing more than a passion while Pavarotti trained to become a teacher and began working in a school.

But at 20, he travelled with his chorus to an international music competition in Wales. The Modena group won first place, and Pavarotti began to dedicate himself to singing.

With the encouragement of his then fiancee, Adua Veroni, he started lessons, selling insurance to pay for them. He studied with Arrigo Pola and later Ettore Campogalliani.

In 1961, Pavarotti won a local voice competition and with it a debut as Rodolfo in Puccini`s "La Boheme" in Reggio Emilia.

He followed with a series of successes in small opera houses throughout Europe before his 1963 debut at Covent Garden in London, where he stood in for Di Stefano as Rodolfo.

Having impressed conductor Richard Bonynge, Pavarotti was given a role opposite Bonynge`s wife, soprano Joan Sutherland, in a Miami production of "Lucia di Lamermoor." Bagging the role was a sheer matter of chance, as the tenor who was originally scheduled to perform at the Miami-Dade County Auditorium had fallen ill, and Pavarotti was roped in on recommendation of Sutherland herself. The performance reaped fruit, as he was subsequently signed for a 14-week tour of Australia.

It was the recognition Pavarotti needed to launch his career. He also credited Sutherland with teaching him how to breathe correctly. In the following years, Pavarotti made a series of major debuts, appearing at La Scala in Milan in 1965, San Francisco in 1967 and New York`s Metropolitan Opera House in 1968. Other early venues included Vienna, Paris and Chicago.

Throughout his career, Pavarotti struggled with a much-publicized weight problem. His love of food caused him to balloon to a reported high of 396 pounds in 1978, for which Pavarotti had once expressed his wish to reduce.

Pavarotti, who had been trained as a lyric tenor, began taking on heavier dramatic tenor roles, such as Manrico in Verdi`s "Trovatore" and the title role in "Othello."

Pavarotti often drew comparisons with Domingo, his most notable contemporary. Aficionados judged Domingo the more complete and consistent musician, but he never captured the public imagination like Pavarotti.

Though there appeared to be professional jealousy between the great singers, Pavarotti claimed he preferred to judge himself only against his earlier performances.

In the mid-1970s, Pavarotti became a true media star. He appeared in television commercials and began appearing in hugely lucrative mega-concerts outdoors and in stadiums around the world. Soon came joint concerts with pop stars. A concert in New York`s Central Park in 1993 drew 500,000 fans.

Pavarotti`s recording of "Volare" went platinum in 1988.

In 1990, he appeared with Domingo and Carreras in a concert at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome for the end of soccer`s World Cup. The concert was a huge success, and the record known as "The Three Tenors" was a best-seller and was nominated for two Grammy awards. The video sold over 750,000 copies.

The three-tenor extravaganza became a mini-industry. With a follow-up album recorded at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles in 1994, the three have outsold every other performer of classical music. A 1996 tour earned each tenor an estimated USD 10 million.

Pavarotti liked to mingle with pop stars in his series of charity concerts, "Pavarotti & Friends," held annually in Modena. He performed with artists as varied as Ricky Martin, James Brown and the Spice Girls.

The performances raised some eyebrows but he always shrugged off the criticism.

In 2004, Pavarotti said in an interview, “Some say the word pop is a derogatory word to say `not important` – I do not accept that… If the word classic is the word to say `boring,` I do not accept. There is good and bad music.” Music all the way…

In his heyday, he was known as the "King of the High C`s" for the ease with which he tossed off difficult top notes. In fact it was his ability to hit nine glorious high C`s in quick succession that first turned him into an international superstar singing Tonio`s aria "Ah! Mes amis," in Donizetti`s "La Fille du Regiment" at New York`s Metropolitan Opera in 1972.

In the 1990s, Pavarotti`s teaming with Domingo and Carreras became a music business phenomenon and spawned copycats such as the Three Irish Tenors.

Pavarotti starred in a film called "Yes, Giorgio" (though its failure scuttled his hopes for a Hollywood career) and appeared in a filmed version of "Rigoletto." He wrote an autobiography, "I, Luciano Pavarotti," and made more than 90 recordings.

From Beijing to Buenos Aires, people immediately recognized his incandescent smile and lumbering bulk, clutching a white handkerchief as he sang arias and Neapolitan folk songs, pop numbers and Christmas carols for hundreds of thousands in outdoor concerts.

His name seemed to show up as much in gossip columns as serious music reviews, particularly after he split with Adua Veroni, his wife of 35 years and mother of their three daughters, and then took up with his 26-year-old secretary in 1996.

In late 2003, he married Nicoletta Mantovani in a lavish, star-studded ceremony. Pavarotti said their daughter Alice, nearly a year old at the time of the wedding, was the main reason he and Mantovani finally wed after years together. Drawing the flak

Fame apart, Pavarotti had his fair-share of criticism as well. He was slammed for lip-synching at a concert in Modena, Italy, his hometown. An artist accused him of copying her works from a how-to-draw book and selling the paintings.

In the latter part of his career, some music critics cited what they saw as an increasing tendency toward the vulgar and the commercial.

He came under fire for cancelling performances or pandering to the lowest common denominator in his choice of programs, or for the Three Tenors tours and their millions of dollars in fees.

Pavarotti was also dogged by accusations of tax evasion, and in 2000 he agreed to pay nearly USD 12 million to the Italian state after he had unsuccessfully claimed that the tax haven of Monte Carlo rather than Italy was his official residence.

He had been accused in 1996 of filing false tax returns for 1989-91.

Pavarotti always denied wrongdoing, saying he paid taxes wherever he performed. But, upon agreeing to the settlement, he said: "I cannot live being thought not a good person."

The humanitarian edge Pavarotti, besides his acumen as a tenor, was also known to be a humanitarian. A close friend of Princess Diana, he campaigned alongside her to abolish landmines worldwide. During the 1992-95 Bosnia war, he collected humanitarian aid along with U2 lead singer Bono, and after the war he financed and established the Pavarotti Music Centre in the southern city of Mostar to offer Bosnia`s artists the opportunity to develop their skills.

Appointed as the United Nation`s Messenger of Peace in 1998, Pavarotti would often host charity concerts to raise money, taking up issues of global importance like wars, HIV/AIDS, child rights and natural calamities. He also performed at a benefit concert to raise money for victims an earthquake in December 1988 that killed 25,000 people in northern Armenia. Owing to his contributions for raising aid for refugees worldwide, he was awarded the Nansen Medal by the UN High Commission for Refugees in 2001. Pavarotti also received Freedom of London Award and The Red Cross Award for Services to Humanity. End of an era… In the annals of that rare and coddled breed, the operatic tenor, it may well be said the 20th century began with Enrico Caruso and ended with Pavarotti. Other tenors — Domingo included — may have drawn more praise from critics for their artistic range and insights, but none could equal the combination of natural talent and personal charm that so endeared Pavarotti to audiences. The demise of this great maestro has undoubtedly caused an irreparable loss to the entire world of music. Pavarotti ruled a million hearts in his life… and even after his demise will continue to do so for ages to come.

Bureau Report