MODENA, Italy, Sept 6 Reuters/AP - Italian opera star Luciano Pavarotti, hailed by many as the greatest tenor of his generation, died early today after a long battle with cancer, his manager Terri Robson said.
The great tenor Luciano Pavarotti died today at 5am at his home in Modena,'' Robson said in a statement. He was 71. The Maestro fought a long, tough battle against the pancreatic cancer which eventually took his life.
In fitting with the approach that characterised his life and work, he remained positive until finally succumbing to the last stages of his illness.'' The rotund, black-bearded tenor known as Big Luciano’’ helped bring opera to the masses and performed to vast stadium audiences round the world.
He shot to fame with a stand-in appearance at London’s Covent Garden in 1963 and had soon had critics gushing about his voluminous voice.
His last public singing performance was at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Turin in February 2006.
In July last year, Pavarotti underwent surgery in New York for pancreatic cancer and retreated to his villa in Modena. He had to cancel his first planned public reappearance a few months later.
Pavarotti was taken to a hospital in Modena last month and treated for more than two weeks. He was released on August 25, and spent his final hours at home with family and friends nearby, the statement said.
A Modena television station reported yesterday that Pavarotti had lost consciousness and suffered kidney failure towards the end of his life.
Perhaps Pavarotti’s biggest gift to the music world was when he joined forces with Spanish stars Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras at the 1990 soccer World Cup and introduced operatic classics to an estimated 800 million people around the globe.
I always admired the God-given glory of his voice - that unmistakable special timbre from the bottom up to the very top of the tenor range,'' Domingo said in a statement from Los Angeles. I also loved his wonderful sense of humour and on several occasions of our concerts with Jose Carreras - the so-called Three Tenors concerts - we had trouble remembering that we were giving a concert before a paying audience, because we had so much fun between ourselves.’’
The tenor, who seemed equally at ease singing with soprano Joan Sutherland as with the Spice Girls, scoffed at accusations that he was sacrificing his art in favour of commercialism.
The word commercial is exactly what we want,'' he said, after appearing in the widely publicised Three Tenors concerts. We’ve reached 1.5 billion people with opera. If you want to use the word commercial, or something more derogatory, we don’t care. Use whatever you want.’’
Other tenors - Domingo included - may have drawn more praise from critics for their artistic range and insights, but none could equal the combination of natural talent and personal charm that so endeared Pavarotti to audiences.
Pavarotti is the biggest superstar of all,'' the late New York Times music critic Harold Schonberg once said. He’s correspondingly more spoiled than anybody else. They think they can get away with anything. Thanks to the glory of his voice, he probably can.’’
Very sad indeed. Brought opera to the masses.
I live near Modena, his hometown…I liked really much when they organized those Pavarotti and friends concerts with U2 , sting and so on.
I didn’t follow him that much, but I liked him.
Now I hope he rests in peace…tomorrow here for funeral will be very crowded.
I thought he was amazing: such power through such a wide range, but with passion and control. He was a true superstar.
The word superstar is thrown around very cheaply these days. To be a true superstar, talent and great success are not enough. There has to be something extra in the personality that lifts him/her to a level beyond success, to transcend ordinariness is every aspect of life. Mohammed Ali comes to mind. Pavarotti was a true superstar.
he really has been the international icon for tenors. so much so that his image has become a cliche.
we’ll miss you, big fellah, but your voice will continue to echo long after you have gone…
hard living, to much eating, and a full time slob, my fellow italian met his fate…oh well
britney spears is my hero…
ciao… says i “thunderthighs”