Luciano, may you rest in peace and rise in glory.
I heard Pavarotti live when he was past his prime for singing entire operas but, as yet, had a sweet, sweet, marvelous voice in concert. What a pleasure! He was quite gracious in giving us two or three encores.
At that time, he was missing more than an occasional performance, and I was not confident that he would be there until he actually walked out on the stage. He was doing a benefit for some cause or other in Baton Rouge, La.
I feel privileged to have heard him. It was the sweetness of his voice that captivated me.
Great man. Poor man--he died of that dreadful pancreatic cancer that killed my mother and your sister, too. Bless him.
ReplyDeleteJan, I saw that. It's one of the worst cancers, an almost sure killer.
ReplyDeletethanks for noting the loss - Beverly Sills and Pavorotti - all in the same year.
ReplyDeleteyes, what a heavenly voice. thanks for the tribute.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great picture of Pavorotti.
ReplyDeleteKeep up posted on the health of your little Beyonce.
Lindy and Rowan
I had the good fortune to hear him once too... Not past his prime either.
ReplyDeleteI will admit he was not my favorite, but his talent... undeniable.
God rest his soul. The choir of angels has just improved!
I heard Pavarotti several times at the Met -- mostly before 1975. There are two performances I remember best. One was a dress rehearsal of Der Rosenkavalier. You should have heard the audience gasp when Osie Hawkins announced that Luciano Psvarotti would be the Italian Singer. He sang in full voice, too -- not the mezzo voce that is so common in dress rehearsals.
ReplyDeleteThe other was an early performance of La Fille du Regiment. He was spectacular.
This obit in the Washington Post gives the good, the bad, and the ugly.
ReplyDeleteI like this quote:
Pavarotti was renowned for the beauty and freedom of his upper register. "When singing high notes I feel like a show jumper before a two meters-plus bar," he once said. "Stretched to my limits. Excited and happy but with a strong undercurrent of fear. The moment I actually hit the note, I almost lose consciousness. A physical, animal sensation seizes me. Then, after it has been successfully negotiated, I regain control."
The moment I actually hit the note, I almost lose consciousness.
ReplyDeleteGreat description. You can't let your conscious mind have the upper hand at moments like that.
Geor3ge, I take your word for it, for I have no gift that calls for that type of exercise.
ReplyDeleteEven Pavarotti's excesses appealed to me, but then I never had to deal with him one on one.
Thanks for this Mimi. Allen, I was lucky enough to see the performance for which that was the rehersal. Just the idea that L.P. would do the cameo role of The Italian Tenor was a ticket seller. They say Strauss hated tenors; he certainly gave them a workout -- and that brief scene is no piece of cake. But it's the kind of music Luciano's voice was made for.
ReplyDeleteI'm grateful the recording industry came along in time to preserve his art for many years to come... And I hope PBS will broadcast some of the Live From videos of him, and Beverly Sills, in tribute to the losses sustained this year.
I have vivid, very precious memories of Luciano from the early nineties when I was a student at Westminster Choir College. They are on my blog.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful photo, Mimi.
ReplyDelete