Memorial Page for Luciano Pavarotti

Luciano Pavarotti (born 12 October 1935 in Modena; died 6 September 2007 in the same city) was an Italian opera singer and one of the best-known tenors of the 20th century. His bright, seemingly effortless top notes and his reputation as the "King of the High Cs" made him famous far beyond opera audiences – ultimately as one of the Three Tenors, whose concerts reached a billion-strong television audience.

Modena and the path to singing

Pavarotti grew up in a two-room apartment in Modena. His father Fernando worked as a baker and sang as an amateur in the town choir; his mother Adele worked in a cigar factory. Pavarotti first trained as an elementary school teacher and taught for two years before deciding in 1954 to study singing professionally, first with Arrigo Pola in Modena and later with Ettore Campogalliani in Mantua. On 29 April 1961 he made his debut at the Teatro Municipale in Reggio Emilia as Rodolfo in Puccini's La Bohème.

Rise to stardom

In the years that followed, Pavarotti sang at La Scala in Milan and toured repeatedly with soprano Joan Sutherland, including a 1965 tour of Australia – a collaboration that decisively advanced his career. On 23 November 1968 he made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, again as Rodolfo. Important figures from these years included conductors such as Emerson Buckley, with whom Pavarotti worked in Miami and at other American houses.

King of the High Cs

Pavarotti earned the title that made him famous on 17 February 1972 at the Metropolitan Opera: in Donizetti's La fille du régiment he sang all nine high Cs of the aria "Ah! mes amis" with a confidence that brought the audience to 17 curtain calls. From that evening on he was no longer just a sought-after opera singer but an international star whose appearances drew attention far beyond the usual opera audience.

The Three Tenors and worldwide fame

On 7 July 1990, on the eve of the football World Cup final in Rome, Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo and José Carreras sang together for the first time as The Three Tenors at the ancient Baths of Caracalla. The concert reached an estimated billion television viewers and brought classical singing to a mass audience as few events had before. In the years that followed, the three singers toured the world together regularly.

Family

In 1961 Pavarotti married his first wife, Adua Veroni; the couple had three daughters, Lorenza, Cristina and Giuliana. In 1993 he met Nicoletta Mantovani; his marriage to Veroni was later dissolved. In January 2003 Mantovani gave birth to twins – daughter Alice survived, while her brother Riccardo died shortly after birth from a lack of oxygen. Pavarotti and Mantovani married on 13 December 2003.

Later years, illness and death

Even after his stage career ended, Pavarotti remained active through charity concerts, including one in Saint Petersburg. In early July 2006 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer; after surgery in New York he cancelled all further engagements. Luciano Pavarotti died on 6 September 2007, aged 71, at his home in Modena from the effects of the disease. An estimated 100,000 people paid their respects in the following days; the funeral mass was held at the Duomo San Geminiano in his hometown, where a formation of the Frecce Tricolori aerobatic team flew over the mourners in his honour. He was buried in the family grave in Montale, near Modena.

Pavarotti's voice survives on countless recordings, from his early role debuts to the mass concerts of his final years. He made opera accessible to audiences who had never set foot in an opera house, without sacrificing vocal substance – a combination of technical precision and immediate joy in singing that made him one of the few classical voices recognised worldwide even outside classical music.