Italy and classical music fans worldwide are mourning one of Italy's favourite sons, opera singer Luciano Pavarotti, who died yesterday morning in his home town of Modena, northern Italy. Pavarotti (71), who was diagnosed as suffering from pancreatic cancer a year ago, died peacefully in his own villa, writes Paddy Agnewin Rome.
As world leaders including US president George W Bush, French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Russian president Vladimir Putin, British prime minister Gordon Brown and United Nations general-secretary Ban Ki-Moon all paid tribute to the great tenor, Modena last night began three days of civic mourning with the lying in state of Pavarotti's body in the Duomo di Modena. Pavarotti will be buried tomorrow in Modena in a ceremony that is certain to be marked by an outpouring of popular grief.
A larger-than-life figure with an unmistakeable voice and stage presence, Pavarotti will always be remembered as the key element in the "Three Tenors" project which introduced opera music to a huge, worldwide audience.
Along with Placido Domingo and José Carreras, Pavarotti featured in the first Three Tenors concert, held in Rome on the eve of the 1990 World Cup final. On that night, he gave one of many moving renditions of the Nessun Dormaaria from Puccini's Turandot, an aria that was to become his calling card. Pavarotti's willingness to go "downmarket" with his music prompted many raised eyebrows within the classical music community but it proved a huge success. The 1994 release, The Three Tenors in Concert, remains the bestselling classical album of all time.
Pavarotti's ability to experiment, to sing on the same platform as rock singers such as Elton John, Bono, Bob Geldof, Paul McCartney, Sting and others should not detract from the achievements of his 45-year operatic career. Blessed with a huge natural talent, he was a tenor in the great "bel canto" tradition, worthy of comparison with illustrious predecessors such as Gigli, Caruso and di Stefano.
Recalling him last night, Zubin Mehta, who conducted many of the Three Tenors concerts, said: "He was a great Italian hero and Italy needs heroes like him. The whole world will be listening to his voice on every radio and TV station."
José Carreras said that the world has "lost a wonderful singer and great man" while the third tenor, Placido Domingo, commented: "He had an unmistakeable timbre, a complete tenor's range. They threw away the mould when they made Luciano."