Dear Pavarotti, R.I.P

Opera legend Pavarotti dies at 71

World renowned tenor Luciano Pavarotti has died at his home in the northern Italian city of Modena.

The singer, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year, was 71.

His charismatic performances - particularly alongside fellow tenors Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras - helped bring a new audience to opera.

Pavarotti had cancer surgery in July 2006 in New York, five months after his last performance. He had not made any public appearances since then.

He underwent five bouts of chemotherapy in the past year, and was admitted to hospital with a fever on 8 August. He was released two weeks later following diagnostic tests.

Fellow tenor Domingo said he had "always admired the God-given glory" of Pavarotti's voice, while Carreras called him "one of the most important tenors of all time".

The Vienna State Opera raised a black flag in mourning, while Modena said it would name its theatre after its famous son.

Manager Terri Robson said in a statement that the tenor died at 0500 local time (0400 BST) on Thursday.

"The Maestro fought a long, tough battle against the pancreatic cancer which eventually took his life," she said.

"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 funeral will be held at Modena Cathedral on Saturday.

One of the tenor's doctors, Antonio Frassoldati, told Sky TG24 the singer had been "always totally conscious of the situation, he always sought to fight the disease... and he was very calm".

Pavarotti enjoyed 40 years on the world stage and became one of the world's biggest-selling artists.

His music reached far beyond the usual opera audience, particularly his signature tune Nessun Dorma, from Puccini's Turandot, which became associated with the 1990 football World Cup.

His performances with Domingo and Jose Carerras at this time - in the Three Tenors concerts - were seen around the world.

"We've reached 1.5 billion people with opera," Pavarotti told critics of the shows.

"If you want to use the word commercial, or something more derogatory, we don't care. Use whatever you want."

In a statement from Los Angeles, Domingo said he had fond memories of the Three Tenors shows.

"We had trouble remembering we were giving a concert before a paying audience, because we had so much fun between ourselves," he said.

Nessun Dorma was part of Pavarotti's final performance, at the opening of the Winter Olympics in Turin in February 2006.

Pavarotti was married to his first wife Adua, with whom he had three daughters, for 35 years until they split in 1996.

He then got together with his secretary Nicoletta Mantovani, who was 26 years old at the time. In 2003, they had been due to have twins, but only one survived, a daughter called Alice.

The couple married in a lavish, star-studded ceremony later that year.

News Source：http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6981032.stm

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What a great opera superstar.....
Sigh.
Dear Pavarotti, R.I.P

補充：
Luciano Pavarotti
義大利男高音歌唱家，1935年10月12日生於摩德納。從師A.波拉和E.坎波加利亞尼。1961年在雷焦艾米利亞劇院舉行的國際聲樂比賽中獲獎；同年在該市首次登台扮演《波希米亞人》中的魯道夫而一舉成名。其後相繼在荷蘭和英國演出獲得成功。1965年與薩瑟蘭﹐J.到澳大利亞旅行演出，扮演《拉美莫爾的露契亞》中的埃德加；同年在米蘭拉斯卡拉歌劇院登台，扮演《弄臣》中的曼圖亞公爵。1968年在美國舊金山和紐約登台扮演《軍中女郎》中的托尼奧，聲名大振。他的嗓音開放、明亮，高音輝煌，穿透力極強，曾被譽為“高音C之王”。他的演唱優美、熱情、奔放，具有典型義大利唱風，擅長抒情及戲劇性角色，為當代最受歡迎的男高音之一。1986年6月曾來中國訪問演出受到熱烈歡迎，錄有大量唱片。