When I heard that Luciano Pavarotti had passed away, aged 71, after a year of fighting pancreatic cancer, these fleeting images of his 50-year career went through my head. One of the most poignant was the only time I saw him, live in Caracalla in 1990, during the first of the immensely popular Three Tenors Concerts. I feel that my actually having been there is part of my collective memory of unforgettable events. Something that makes me happy even now, 17 years later!
That concert is what set the ball rolling for all the mega-concerts that subsequently have become the rage everywhere; in Malta too! Pavarotti has sung with everyone who is anyone. A galaxy of opera stars and a plethora of pop and rock stars too have at one time or another rubbed shoulders with the eccentric, handkerchief-waving and shawl-hugging eccentric Voice who after Frank Sinatra is the only person who could merit such a name.
Pavarotti's version of Nessun Dorma is an unsurpassable benchmark in the interpretation of this particular aria. It is recognised in the streets and in the bocci clubs, in the squares and in the football pitches.
Today Vincerò VincerÒ' VinceroooOOOOOOOÒ quavering off loudspeakers in stadia, has become a battle cry for all sorts of sports. Michael Bolton sings it regularly; a trifle strangely, yes, but effectively enough to bowl over his audiences. That is possible thanks to Luciano Pavarotti.
Many of the people who sing Nessun Dorma in their showers have absolutely no idea what it's all about. Very few know about the caprices of the Chinese Princess who like a prematurely hungry praying mantis decapitated her potential mates unless they guessed the answer to three riddles. People know the aria because Pavarotti's "clear as a bell" high C penetrated their subconscious and thrilled them to bits by sending their endorphins all aquiver!!
Pavarotti's mega status in the opera world is equal only to that of Maria Callas, who incidentally passed away almost 30 years ago, on September 16, 1977. Callas was responsible for the elimination of singing automatons in costume and demanded that opera singers should act and not just wave their arms up and down and look soulful!
Pavarotti's larger than life status and his extra-operatic peregrinations and adventures almost match that of the Greek diva and excited just as much comment. What Pavarotti contributed to the world of opera is its popularisation. He may not have been able to move about much but his voice and above all his attitude and unorthodox matches and mismatches made him unforgettable.
Like Callas, his was a voice that can be recognised easily even on the poorest of recordings. Like in the Callas recordings there is this electric current that one can feel when one listens to him especially in the earlier performances like in that utterly stunning Jean Pierre Ponnelle 1983 production of Rigoletto with Wixell and Gruberova. Thanks to Luciano Pavarotti turning opera into a household name there is far more chance of the genre surviving into the 22nd century. One wonders what would have happened to opera had Pavarotti aged 18 decided to take up soccer instead which he was seriously contemplating!
The legacy of this great man will live on for as long as his recordings are able to be heard and enjoyed. Look for pages and pages of excerpts with him singing all sorts of music on YouTube and be thrilled by that clarion-like voice that comes across with such dramatic force.
Opera is all the richer for the journey of Pavarotti in its annals. He will remain a legend forever.
That concert is what set the ball rolling for all the mega-concerts that subsequently have become the rage everywhere; in Malta too! Pavarotti has sung with everyone who is anyone. A galaxy of opera stars and a plethora of pop and rock stars too have at one time or another rubbed shoulders with the eccentric, handkerchief-waving and shawl-hugging eccentric Voice who after Frank Sinatra is the only person who could merit such a name.
Pavarotti's version of Nessun Dorma is an unsurpassable benchmark in the interpretation of this particular aria. It is recognised in the streets and in the bocci clubs, in the squares and in the football pitches.
Today Vincerò VincerÒ' VinceroooOOOOOOOÒ quavering off loudspeakers in stadia, has become a battle cry for all sorts of sports. Michael Bolton sings it regularly; a trifle strangely, yes, but effectively enough to bowl over his audiences. That is possible thanks to Luciano Pavarotti.
Many of the people who sing Nessun Dorma in their showers have absolutely no idea what it's all about. Very few know about the caprices of the Chinese Princess who like a prematurely hungry praying mantis decapitated her potential mates unless they guessed the answer to three riddles. People know the aria because Pavarotti's "clear as a bell" high C penetrated their subconscious and thrilled them to bits by sending their endorphins all aquiver!!
Pavarotti's mega status in the opera world is equal only to that of Maria Callas, who incidentally passed away almost 30 years ago, on September 16, 1977. Callas was responsible for the elimination of singing automatons in costume and demanded that opera singers should act and not just wave their arms up and down and look soulful!
Pavarotti's larger than life status and his extra-operatic peregrinations and adventures almost match that of the Greek diva and excited just as much comment. What Pavarotti contributed to the world of opera is its popularisation. He may not have been able to move about much but his voice and above all his attitude and unorthodox matches and mismatches made him unforgettable.
Like Callas, his was a voice that can be recognised easily even on the poorest of recordings. Like in the Callas recordings there is this electric current that one can feel when one listens to him especially in the earlier performances like in that utterly stunning Jean Pierre Ponnelle 1983 production of Rigoletto with Wixell and Gruberova. Thanks to Luciano Pavarotti turning opera into a household name there is far more chance of the genre surviving into the 22nd century. One wonders what would have happened to opera had Pavarotti aged 18 decided to take up soccer instead which he was seriously contemplating!
The legacy of this great man will live on for as long as his recordings are able to be heard and enjoyed. Look for pages and pages of excerpts with him singing all sorts of music on YouTube and be thrilled by that clarion-like voice that comes across with such dramatic force.
Opera is all the richer for the journey of Pavarotti in its annals. He will remain a legend forever.