Pavarotti, Luciano

Luciano Pavarotti

Singer

For the Record…

Selected discography

Writings

Sources

Luciano Pavarotti is considered by many to be the greatest male singer since Enrico Caruso, and in his prime—the mid-1970s—he was probably the century’s best lyric tenor. He is known for his extraordinary vocal capacity, earning the nickname “King of the High Cs” after executing the string of high notes in Gaetano Donizetti’s fiendishly difficult La Fille du regiment. His voice, at once capable of sweetness and immense volume, is considered the ideal medium for Italian opera’s celebrated bel canto works, those works calling for purity of tone and articulation even in the upper register. Pavarotti has embraced such works gleefully, and with both his extraordinary voice and his endearing, puckish personality, he is largely perceived as the opera performer who best recalls previous greats such as Caruso and Jussi Bjoerling. As Hubert Saal noted in a 1976 Newsweek, “More than any other tenor today, Luciano Pavarotti … summons up the legendary golden age of singing.”

Born in Modena, Italy, in 1935, Pavarotti sang from early childhood. At home, he was often exposed to recordings by Caruso, Bjoerling, and Benaimino Gigli. Though an impressive singer, Pavarotti aspired in his youth to a career as a professional soccer player. His mother, however, urged him to pursue a more realistic career, and in the 1950s he trained as a teacher. He subsequently taught at an elementary school for two years, but with his father’s encouragement he continued to train his voice. Pavarotti’s efforts proved successful in 1961 when he won a music contest and secured the role of Rodolfo in Giacomo Puccini’s La Boheme in nearby Regia Emilia. His success in Puccini’s great opera led to further roles in such works as Donizetti’s dramatic masterwork Lucia di Lammermoor.

Throughout the early 1960s, Pavarotti continued to distinguish himself in the bel canto repertoire, enjoying particular success with celebrated soprano Joan Sutherland in Donizetti operas, including L’Elisir d’amore and the aforementioned Lucia di Lammermoor. In still another Donizetti work, La Fille du regiment, he awed audiences by soaring through the difficult string of high Cs that mark the opera’s highlight. Word soon spread through the opera world of Pavarotti’s extraordinary capacity for sustained vocal purity, and in 1967 he made his American debut as Rodolfo in a San Francisco Opera production of La Boheme. The following year he reprised the role at the Metropolitan Opera, whereupon he won great praise for his supremely beautiful singing. By the end of the decade Pavarotti was recognized as a supreme force in bel canto opera, distinguishing himself further with his performances on recordings of La Fill du regiment and Bellini’s Beatrice di Tenda.

For the Record…

Born October 12, 1935, in Modena, Italy; son of Fernando (a baker) and Adele (a tobacco-processing factory worker; maiden name, Venturi) Pavarotti; married Adua Veroni, September 30, 1961; children: Lorenza, Cristina, Giuliana. Education: Diploma magistrale (teaching diploma) from Instituto Magistrale Carlo Sigonio, 1955; studied voice with Arrio Pola, Ettore Campogalliani.

Worked as a teacher in elementary schools and as an insurance salesman prior to musical career; lyric tenor, 1961—, debuted as Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Boheme, Regia Emilia, Italy, 1961; debuted in United States in Miami, Fla., 1965; has given numerous international operatic performances and concerts. Actor in film “Yes, Giorgio,” 1982.

Awards: Recipient of numerous international awards, including Grammy awards for best classical vocal soloist, 1978, 1979, and 1981; named Grand Officer of Italian Republic; recipient of Noce d’Oro National Prize; winner of Luigi Illica international prize; awarded first prize Gold Orfeo by Academie du Disque Lyrique de France.

Addresses: Home— Via Giardini 941, 41040 Saliceta, Modena, Italy. Office—c/o Herbert Breslin, 119 West 57th. St., New York, NY 10019.

Aside from mastering the bel canto repertoire, Pavarotti also earned distinction with his performances in works by Giuseppe Verdi, who is often considered Italy’s master opera composer. Among Pavarotti’s greatest Verdi roles at this time was the duke in Rigoletto, in which capacity he inevitably astounded audiences with his rendition of the well-known “Donna e mobile.” As his voice grew in richness and depth, Pavarotti broadened his own repertoire to include other Verdi operas, notably//Trovatore, where his rousing interpretation of Manrico’s call to war often inspired wild enthusiasm from opera lovers. Other roles Pavarotti assumed at this time include Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca and the Calaf—though on recording only—in Puccini’s Turandot.” Nessun dorma,” the tenor centerpiece of this work, has become a mainstay of Pavarotti’s solo performances.

In the 1980s, Pavarotti has strengthened his status as one of the opera world’s leading figures. Since his first appearance on the Metropolitan Opera’s stage, Pavarotti has expanded his repertoire with considerable success, assaying works ranging from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Idomeneo to Verdi’s Aida, while continuing to appear in those works—notably La Boheme, Lucia di Lammermoor, and Rigoletto, which helped established him as one of the century’s great tenors. Televised performances of Pavarotti in many of his greatest roles have enabled him to not only sustain his status but to considerably broaden his appeal, reaching millions of viewers each time one of his opera performances and solo concerts or recitals is broadcast. He has also shown increasing flexibility as a recording artist. While he continues to appear on recordings of complete operas—with Idomeneo and Bellini’s Norma among his most impressive records from the 1980s—he has also released collections of Italian folk songs and even an album of compositions by Henry Mancini.

Pavarotti seems comfortable with his vast popularity. Although mobbed in public and worshipped in the opera house, he stays committed to serving his art. Unabashed in proclaiming his own pursuit of fame and acclaim—”I want to be famous everywhere,” he told Newsweek’s Saal—he greatly reciprocates his fans’ dedication and shows a marked appreciation for the attention he is accorded by music lovers everywhere. “I tell you,” he confided to Saal, “the time spent signing autographs is never long enough.”

Selected discography

Collections and concert recordings

Best of Pavarotti (four-record set), London.

Bravo Pavarotti (two-record set), London.

Great Pavarotti, London.

Pavarotti’s Greatest Hits (two-record set), London.

Pavarotti in Concert, London.

Mamma, London.

O Solo Mio-Neopolitan Songs, London.

Passione, London.

Verismo Arias, London.

Volare, London.

World’s Favorite Tenor Arias, London.

Yes, Giorgio (motion picture soundtrack), London.

Opera recordings

Bellini, Vicenzo, Norma, London.

Bellini, I Puritani, London.

Donizetti, Gaetano, La Fille du regimente, London.

Donizetti, La Favorita, London.

Donizetti, Lucia di Lammermoor, London.

Donizetti, L’Elisir d’amore, London.

Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, Idomeneo, London.

Puccini, Giacamo, La Boheme, London.

Puccini, Madama Butterfly, London.

Puccini, Turandot, London.

Puccini, Tosca, London.

Verdi, Giuseppe, Aida, London.

Verdi, Un Ballo in maschera, London.

Verdi, Rigoletto, London.

Verdi, La Traviata, London.

Verdi,//Trovatore, London.

Writings

(with William Wright)Pavarotti: My Own Story (autobiography), Warner Books, 1982.

Sources

Books

Hines, Jerome, Great Singers on Great Singing, Doubleday, 1982.

Matheopoulos, Helena, Divo: Great Tenors, Baritones, and Basses Discuss Their Roles, Harper, 1986.

Mayer, Martin, and Gerald Fitzgerald, Grandissimo Pavarotti, Doubleday, 1986.

Pavarotti, Luciano, and William Wright, Pavarotti: My Own Story, Doubleday, 1981.

Schoenberg, Harold, The Glorious Ones: Classical Music’s Legendary Performers, Times Books, 1985.

Tenors, edited by Herbert H. Breslin, Macmillan, 1974.

Periodicals

Esquire, June 5, 1979.

Newsweek, March 15, 1976.

New York, May 18, 1981, January 27, 1986.

New Yorker, October 15, 1973.

Opera News, December 10, 1983, March 29, 1986.

Time, October 25, 1976.