Sep 7, 2007

[Music] Luciano Pavarotti (1935-2007)

Flickr: Il Primo Uomo - pavarotti


It's seems strange to think that Luciano Pavarotti, world famous tenor and opera singer extraordinaire is actually dead. He died at the age of 71 after a length battle with pancreatic cancer.

I have my gran to thank for exposing me to the likes of Pavarotti as part of my informal education in the arts by her hand. She made me listen to various records and albums of the great tenor to better appreciate his gift and to understand why his much vaunted "High C" is so amazing. I always figured that she'd one day pay to see the great singer live, but sadly she did not live to see that dream become a reality.

Pavarotti's Nessun Dorma remains a true classic in my memory - no one will ever be able to sing that piece quite like him. Sure, we all swooned over Paul Potts' rendition of the classic piece but still Pavarotti was a true master.

I'm thankful that my father, Ricky, managed to gather my grandmother's Pavarotti CDs after she died. With his death, these CDs have now been passed on to me and I think this weekend will be devoted to a personal tribute to this great man.

Photo linked from Il Primo Uomo's photostream.

1 comment:

  1. 1. What seems strange to think is that Pavarotti was still alive. In my mind he died when he stopped singing decent music with decent partners (the last recording he bought of him was his Verdi's "Otello" conducted by Sir Georg Solti - almost 15 years ago!) and began singing bullshit with stupid pop stars (someone even told me he sang once with the Spice Girls... I hope for Pavarotti's memory this was a joke - but I'm afraid it wasn't.)
    2. Indeed, Pavarotti was a GOOD interpreter of the role of Calaf in Puccini's "Turandot" (from which the aria "Nessun dorma" is taken); he wasn't a GREAT one. And I hope that many tenors in the future will still be able to sing this aria much better than he did. In the past, MANY tenors succeeded in singing it with much more style and a superior clearness in the "high C" than Pavarotti ever did. Here are a few ones: Joseph Schmidt, Georges Thill, Jussi Björling, Franco Corelli, Mario del Monaco, Carlo Bergonzi... Listen to them: you'll agree that Pavarotti's performance was just in the average (like Giuseppe di Stefano's).

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