Luciano Pavarotti, RIP
By Nicole Belle Wednesday Sep 05, 2007 8:00am
MSNBC: Luciano Pavarotti, whose vibrant high C's and ebullient showmanship made him one of the world's most beloved tenors, has died, his manager told The Associated Press. He was 71.
His manager, Terri Robson, told the AP in an e-mail statement that Pavarotti died at his home in Modena, Italy, at 5 a.m. local time. Pavarotti had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year and underwent further treatment in August.
"The Maestro fought a long, tough battle against the pancreatic cancer, which eventually took his life. In fitting with the approach that characterized his life and work, he remained positive until finally succumbing to the last stages of his illness," the statement said.
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RIP
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KxyrphGgLH4
RIP Maestro
damn shame.
I had no idea he was 71, wow. This is a tragic loss and no one will ever come close to the legacy he's left to the World.
RIP
The world has lost a lovely voice
Arguably the greatest tenor ever. Thank you for sharing your incredible voice with us, Mr. Pavarotti.
What opera is this from?
hadenuf: it's "Nessun dorma" from Turandot.
I was never a huge Pavarotti fan, although his 1971 or 1972 Philadelphia performance of I Puritani with Beverly Sills is sublime.
hadenuf @ 7:
Puccini's Turandot...RIP Maestro!
gracie
I guess now he's gone from singing like an Angel to singing with the Angels. RIP We'll miss you.
Any friend of James Brown was a friend of mine. Rest in peace Maestro...
What can be said about a man who's impact on the world was so strong that even people who didn't like opera listened...and enjoyed his voice.He was my favorite male opera singer...sad day indeed.RIP.Maestro...you will not be forgotten.
Karla @ 8:
I have his "Best Of" disc in both of my cars. I've had to replace each disk at least once.
My mother was born in Florence; she always sang opera, could quote Dante [and spoke 3 languages].
She thought American education was horrendous.
I got to see him four times: once in L.A., twice in New York, and once in Paris... In Paris, he had to cancel, and the concert was rescheduled about 9 months later... it was worth the wait. In New York in the mid-80's, I slept overnight to get the standing tickets in the back they sold... I'll never forget the thrill of getting those tickets.
Thank you for this clip...
Unlike some of the mediocre "talents" of today, people will be watching this and other Pavorotti clips for hundreds of years.
Domingo is great, but no one could touch Lucciano.
When they announce on CNN Asia that a celebrity has passed, I guess, like most, I usually listen with interest... but this one really got to me.
For anyone interested in the Puritani:
Act 1: http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/1732431/
Acts 2 & 3: http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/1743445/
Probably my favorite Pavarotti aria was "Pour mon ame" from Le Fille du Regiment - the 9 high Cs one. (Although Rockwell Blake sang it with 11. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XRfFC1-nss)
Okay why did you have to choose "Nessun Droma?" I was already sadden by the news, now I am in tears.
For those that don't know it's from Puccini's opera "Turandot." It is one of my favorite aria's, and in my mind only two sing with all the force
and emotion it embodies. I guess I should say, "only two did it well," for one has died today. Here is the translation:
Karla @ 8:
In college there were always the snooty wannabes who bashed the greats, but always remebered that on "sublime performance". Pavarotti is the benchmark. C'mon.
This is quite a blow. Though I respect Domingo a bit more as a musician, as a Voice, Pavarotti had the edge. My favorite tenor, however, is this man:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ieumc8aODU
He died when he was 49, more's the pity. Otherwise we'd have better recordings.
Gosh, Pavarotti's gone. It's like Elvis going.
What opera is this from?
If you're referring to the YouTube clip Guido posted in the first comment, it's from Donizetti's "L'elisir D'Amore" ("The Elixir Of Love"), one of Pav's signature roles.
Probably my favorite Pavarotti aria was “Pour mon ame” from Le Fille du Regiment - the 9 high Cs one. (Although Rockwell Blake sang it with 11)
The late Alfredo Kraus was able to nail the high C's even in his 70's.
Arguably the greatest tenor ever.
In terms of his popularity...maybe. Even people who know nothing about opera know who Pavarotti was. However the same could be said of Enrico Caruso in the early 20th century. Personally I don't think there's such a thing as the "greatest" anything with regards to music since taste is so subjective. Having said that, Luciano Pavarotti had a phenomenal voice (his recordings of "Turandot" and "La Boheme" remain among my favorites) and I mourn his passing.
RIP
Kelley, thanks for the Jussi Bjoerling link (he's one of my fav's as well).
Here's another of my favorites who also died way too soon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px0H0rD2L2E
"Fair and Balanced" Dave @ 23:
My gosh, I just finished watching that clip. You're so right.
just echoing the condolences... and happy to see that he once performed one of my favorite passages...
I Pagliacci... this scene is everything to me... the clown whose daughter is in love with a young noble and on the verge of entering society... and the clown himself who realizes that his simple existence is an embarassment... and Luciano does it more than justice...
just finished watching other snippets.... along with another fave... Ave Maria... yeah... RIP
oops... forgot to add link to Pagliacci if anyone is so inclined...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ky271W94VHA
One more thought:
Where are the clips of the up-and-coming young tenors who are going to follow these men? I've not heard any lately--the ones I've heard all bellow. These wonderful, effortless, clarion (an overused adjective, I know) tenor voices--where are they?
I had hopes for Greg Turay, but I haven't heard anything about him lately.
He was quite simply, the best tenor to perform in my lifetime. My father would cry, listening to La Boheme. His voice was easily recognizable and his career spanned the better part of his life. He was a showman, and will be missed. RIP.
This is the man who got me listening to opera, along with many others. As I got more into it, I just assumed I would graduate to other singers and find that he was too "pop" or something. But it never happened, he remained, and remains, my favorite by a long stretch.
Pavarotti was so musical. This is what people don't realize. It's not the voice, the personality, though those are important also. As a musician (not of opera) I value most what musicians call musicality, whether someone just plays the notes or something else beneath them, the meaning, the phrase, the music coming through it. Bill Evans said that the instrument, even the notes, are just pathways to music, which is something beyond them.
When Pavarotti was deciding whether to pursue a career in opera, his family debated it, and it was clear that it was a really hard field, almost no one succeeded. But his mother said "Yes, but when YOU sing, I feel something special coming out of it" or something along those lines. So he decided to go for it.
Go Mom.
Ciao Luciano.
Dan @ 25:
*Whispering* Hey there, you're confusing this with Rigoletto or something. Canio is the guy whose wife was cheating on him with another clown, and he ends up killing them both onstage. I know, 'cause I sang the role of the wife once, and it's the only time I've ever gotten to die onstage. Great experience!
Dan @ 25:
I think you're confusing the plot of I Pagliacci, which is about a troupe of travelling performers whose leader murders his wife after discovering she's having an affair, with Verdi's Rigoletto
ack... what the hell...? my brain seems to have cross-threaded... thanks for the correction... not simply the story line... but the composer as well??? Verdi. too many years away from these.
I've never seen him perform, I did however see Michael Crawford in the Phantom of The Opera and I guess that's the closest I will ever come to seeing a truly gifted singer in person..
Break on through to the other side
Kelley @ 27:
Mexican tenor Rolando Villazon shows a lot of promise. I saw him in "Lucia Di Lammermoor" a couple of years ago and his voice is very reminiscent of the young Jose Carreras.
A bad year. Michael Brecker, Luciano Pavarotti, we will not see their likes again.
Ba'al @ 36:
A bad year for opera. Beverly Sills died a couple of weeks ago.
When I heard the man died I looked over at my CDs and saw where I had over fifty performances by him. The man is died, but his art will live forever.
My favorite performance of his was where a magician disguised himself as the conductor, and used his magic wand to turn Pavarotti into all kinds of crazy things, like a cowboy or Carmen Miranda. The man was a genius!!!
Bravo, bravo, Luciano!
He's no Belly...
Brilliant artist. So sad to see him go.
Music majors may have a more "refined" view of the man but I can remember the effect he had on the football (soccer) world when that first Three Tenor concert hit right near the end of the '90 World Cup in Italy... That little ditty Nessun Dorma exploded when it became an anthem for the entire event. It was great how that introduced folks who normally couldn't care about opera to the genre.
It's a serious loss... and let's not forget the charity work he was involved in.
Clavis @ 39:
Did the rabbit play a banjo at the end of the performance? :)
Died too young. Too sad.
Ya know...He was a really cool guy. Down to earth, etc.. I'll bet he was fun to hang with..lol..RIP
If you're interested in a wowzer performance in something out of the boheme-turandot-elisir mainstream, here he is with Maria Guleghina in the finale of Umberto Giordano's "Andrea Chenier".
Beyond the Three Tenors hype and the insane managers, he was one of the great tenors of the twentieth century.
Thank you, Mr. Pavarotti. May you rest in peace.
This was one of his signature arias, and one of my favorites. I actually posted this same clip in LNMC last night. He will be missed. Grazie e bravo, Pavarotti!
Sadness, Rostropovich and now this. I guess that's how it goes but I never imagined these people passing.
I wonder how a Lucianno Pavarotti version of the Little Baby Bumble-Bee song would sound?
I just lost a good friend to pancreatic cancer - she was just 42 and in top physical condition before they found her Stage 4 tumor. Just an insideous disease - no warnings until it's way too late. Helluva way to go. I'll miss the big guy - what a set of pipes!
Damn! Another good one gone.
R.I.P., Luciano.
His Christmas Special on PBS some 30+ yrs ago, is still required viewing for me each holiday season, especially during "O Holy Night" and "Ave Maria". BRAVO MAESTRO, BRAVO!!!!!!!!!
It wasn't until Pavarotti came along that I could understand how people can be brought to tears by opera.
Friends, family, fans and others touched by the voice of Luciano Pavarotti may offer their remembrances of him or condolences to his family in an online Guest Book created for him on Legacy.com at: http://www.legacy.com/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=93952991. (If this link does not work, you may access the Guest Book from the Home Page of Legacy.com.)
Use of the Guest Book is free and does not require any type of registration. All comments are screened to ensure they are respectful and appropriate before they are posted to the Guest Book.
Legacy.com provides online memorials for more than half of all people who die in the United States.
King of Mean @ 16:
Well said---I saw Domingo and Pavarotti both live--Luciano surpassed them all--RIP Maestro.
Dan @ 26:
Hi Dan - thanks for the link. I know very little about opera but when I hear this song, it always brings tears to my eyes. I heard a critic say, today, that besides the wonderful voice, Pavarotti showed great emotion when he sang and that no one else shows the deep emotion that he did. This clip is testament to that statement.
Thank you, Mr. Pavarotti for bringing joy to others by sharing your gift with us.
[...] Luciano Pavarotti, RIP (Crooks and Liars) [...]
Rest in peace, big man. Now you're surrounded by beings with voices to match your own......those of the angels in heaven. Sleep well. XXX
Addio Caro Luciano - the world is crying for you today....
Ahora Dios y sus Angeles tendran la dicha de escuchar tu voz. God has taken you all to himself...Grace the Angels with your music and rest in peace Maestro..
"I think a life in music is a life beautifully spent and this is what I have devoted my life to".
Luciano Pavarotti
"Feeling joy doing what you love in the midst of a mortal struggle... It makes me tearfully smile".
Luciano Pavarotti.
A giant amongst men and an amazing talent passed ... the news broke at ~1 am NYC time.. .. It seems gazillions of people didn't sleep last night but within seconds expressed their shock and grief upon his passing - on youtube and everywhere else.
Among his charities were a 1995 "Concert for Bosnia" that raised $8.5 million, and other concerts that raised $3.3 million for refugees from Afghanistan and $1 million for refugees from Kosovo. The 2003 Pavarotti & Friends concerts in Modena were dedicated to victims of Iraq war, specifically children, who were always Maestros favorites, with children choirs participating in annual Modena,Italy, concerts.
Addio Caro Luciano, mille grazie, mi manchi tanto...
The Godfather of Soul and the Godfather of Opera are again jamming together, in Heaven ..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCIyzNISw1Q
Miserere (Live 1992) -- Una GRANDE emozione...
Zucchero wrote this song especially for Pavarotti.
It has a wonderful message - even when life is miserable sometimes and I
am so ashamed of some stuff, I will still be happy because I know that
there will be joy! Luciano gives his all for LIFE here ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYidtTkfiPE&NR=1
Pavarotti & Barry White - My first, my last, my everything (2001) -
Barry was also in the Luciano's welcoming committee at the Pearly Gates:
two Big Fellas are together again
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL0WFcygdWY
Pavarotti - Una furtiva lagrima - Donizetti
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=4jykAYgeXjM
Una furtiva Lagrima - Pavarotti
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=KxyrphGgLH4
And, it doesn't get any better than this:
Roberto Carlos e Luciano Pavarotti - Ave Maria (1998)
Watch his face in a sung prayer ..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFAjot89zHw
Roberto Carlos e Luciano Pavarotti, numa noite inesquecível no grande encontro de majestades canntam juntos, em italiano,
AVE MARIA (Rio Grande do Sul/ Brazil, 6 de abril de 1998)
Luciano Pavarotti Nessun Dorma (turandot) Torino 2006 => Stupendo !!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwlE_qNSWLw
His LAST public performance
His last performance, in front of 35,000 people in Torino and 2 billion people worldwide - he was diagnosed w/pancreatic cancer just few months later. As if he knew this could be the last time - it's not only his tone and timbre, but so much emotion !! He is ageless, 70 years old here !
E vincerai ancora la sù con il Signore, grazie per la tua magnifica voce, grazie di cuore ...
The 3tenors-Carreras-Domingo-Pavarotti--Nessun Dorma => 1994, Dodgers Stadium. LA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDtcidMR_6I
Added: January 01, 2007
From: jasabet
Puccini Turandot
Views: 362,901
Boys have so much fun as well ! 3 + 1 ==> great/ fun Mehta .. These 4 are a REAL treat and JOY ! Whatever they did together .
Riposi In Pace Luciano, Barry, James ..
This news saddened me greatly. I was fortunate enough to have been in the orchestra accompanying Pavarotti during his 2000 tour. At the rehearsal he was happy, funny and more than willing to stand for a photo with me. I feel so privileged to say I performed with him. This icon of a man was just a warm, friendly regular guy... but a man who sang like a god. His performances and humanitarian work exemplify the best of the human spirit.
Pavarotti was one of the great ones. He had the talent of a god, and was a kind and humble man. While no one if perfect, he contributed a great deal to the good in man's spirit. That is not a small thing.
Rest Peacefully, Big Man.
As an aside, one of our favorite family moments is of our second daughter,(my step daughter). Her father, a great lover of classical music, and a Basso Profundo, Himself, tells this story with pride.
When our second daughter was a toddler, barely able to speak, she would get a foot stool out and stand in front of the TV. She'd stand on top of it and say, in her toddler voice..." Thes ees Jow--nee Caar sone...and tonigh we have wif us Lutzee-awno Pottee-rrrrottee singy Nesssssi Door No. " Now she listens to Sublime and Slipknot,(but also B.B. King and Clarence Carter), but she will still get a big smile and say, under her breath, "Lutzee-awno Potte-rrrrottee." and then hang around and listen.
Thank You Maestro...for so many beautiful memories.
William @ 62:
Thank you for sharing this - as there are some who bring up nothing else but his 'happy-go-lucky' carelessness, but even if they try , there is not a single story of Luciano's being a bully, as many 'performers' / so called musicians (like rappers), DJ’s and all others compilators of music often are. His charisma was always radiating in a positive way - you testimony confirms it. He did care about human race, while being aware he was not without fault.
beckyboo @ 63:
What a wonderful story ! I bet Maestro Pottee-rrrrottee would have a great laugh as well ...
I remember the first time I heard his amazing voice it was when he was singing at the opening ceremonies for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. I couldn't believe how powerful his voice was. I will never forget it. It is truly a sad day for me and opera lovers alike
Luciano Pavarotti RIP
It is rare that one comes along who veritably defines his profession. Luciano Pavarotti was such a man.
Pavarotti was, in Operatic terms, an Italian Tenor. Close your eyes and think of that term; can any other image come to mind other than his bearded, cherubic face?
More than the special qualities of his voice, more than the range and the pop-culture duets, larger than the cultured il Divo persona—his passion for the music he sang so well is still unmatched. Find a video of Pavarotti singing the aria Nessun Dorma, from Puccini’s opera Turnadot (available on YouTube). Watch, upon completion of that magnificent and instantly recognizable piece as the rapture of the music itself falls across his face. We are moved equally by the quality of the performance and by Pavarotti’s passion for the music itself. It’s as if Giacomo Puccini wrote the piece just for him.
While most opera performers with lesser gifts cloister themselves away, Pavarotti was, in his own way, accessible to the masses. Perhaps it was his modest upbringing outside of Modena Italy that made him so. He sang with Beverly Sils and with Michael Bolton—with Placido Domingo and Aretha Franklin—with Jose Carreras and with Bono. Some will call attention to his obvious excesses and occasional scandals, but for today, let us only remember the music. And what truly great music it was!
The final line of Nessun Dorma translates “Vanish, night! Set, stars! Set, stars! At dawn, I will win! I will win! I will win!” Even in death, Luciano Pavarotti’s star will not set and we have all won by virtue of his life’s work.
Luciano Pavarotti, died September 6th, 2007, at 71. RIP.
Be well,
Jeffrey J. Hardy
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