Luciano Pavarotti:

The master of opera

By now, almost all of you would have heard or read about the death of Luciano Pavarotti. Some of you may know who he was, but some of you may not. Pavarotti was one of the greatest opera stars in the world and was part of the ensemble known as the Three Tenors.

Luciano Pavarotti was born in Modena, Italy to Fernando Pavarotti, a baker and singer, and Adele Venturi, a cigar factory worker. Although the family was not very wealthy, they lived happily. Though not professional, Pavarotti's father also had a fine voice, and was the main influence on the young boy. Around the age of nine years, Luciano began singing with his father in a small local church choir.

He had developed an interest in football too, and after graduating from school, was facing problems over what career path to choose; he was interested in pursuing a career as a professional football goalkeeper, but his mother wanted him to train as a teacher.

He started teaching in an elementary school, but his love for music won over and he decided to pursue it in earnest. In 1954, at the age of 19, Pavarotti began studying with Arrigo Pola, a respected teacher and

professional tenor in Modena; it was here that Pavarotti discovered his perfect pitch.

Around the same time, he met Adua Veroni, who was also an opera singer; the couple married in 1961. When Pola moved to Japan, Pavarotti became a student of Ettore Campogalliani, who was also a reputed teacher. During his years of study, Pavarotti held many part-time jobs.

After the first six years of study, a nodule which developed on his vocal chords resulted in Pavarotti deciding to give up singing. However, he underwent a remarkable recovery and found that his voice was even better than before.

Pavarotti launched his opera career in the role of Rodolfo in La boheme on April 29, 1961 in the town of Reggio Emilia. Then he performed in Austria, and in America, singing with the Greater Miami Opera in 1965. His performance at Covent Garden, England resulted in him earning the title 'King of the High Cs'.

A major victory for him was his performance in Rome in 1969 which was recorded and widely distributed. His major breakthrough in the United States came in 1972, at New York's Metropolitan Opera, in which he drove the crowd mad with his nine effortless high Cs.

Pavarotti began making frequent television performances, with many of his performances attracting some of the largest audiences ever for televised operas.

The early 1980s saw Pavarotti setting up the Pavarotti International Voice Competition for young singers, and performing with the winners. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of his career, he brought the winners of the competition for performances to Italy and then to China.

The Chinese visit was concluded with Pavarotti performing the first ever concert in the Great Hall of the People before an audience of 10,000 people.

Pavarotti became even more well-known throughout the world in 1990 when his rendition of 'Nessun Dorma' became the theme song of the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy.

It received audiences the world over and became his trademark song. This was followed by the highly successful Three Tenors concert, held on the eve of the World Cup final in Rome with fellow tenors Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras and conductor Zubin Mehta; it became the biggest selling classical record of all time.

Throughout the 1990s, he performed in many outdoor concerts, in venues such as London's Hyde Park, New York's Central Park and near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, attrating record crowds for all performances.

Pavarotti was instrumental in organising a lot of charity projects as well. He raised money for many UN projects, victims of war and civil unrest, of tragedies such as earthquakes and for landmine victims. In 1998, he was appointed the United Nations' Messenger of Peace. He won many awards and accolades, not only for his performances, but also for his charity work.

By this time, he had also earned a reputation as 'The King of Cancellations' by frequently backing out of performances. This blighted his career to some extent. He also reached mainstream markets, singing with pop and rock artists. In 2003, he released his final compilation, Ti Adoro, which has Pavarotti singing in more of a "popera" (a pop and opera combined) style.

Although he was successful in crossing over to mainstream markets in his career, he never lost his reputation in his chosen field of opera.

Pavarotti's mother died in 2002, aged 86, while his father died less than five months later, aged 89.

In 2003, Pavarotti married Nicoletta Mantovani and started his farewell tour in 2004, at the age of 69. Pavarotti gave his last performance in an opera at the New York Metropolitan Opera on March 13, 2004 for which he received a 12-minute standing ovation.

The period from 2005 saw Pavarotti being plagued by many illnesses, but not to be outdone, he performed the final act of the opening ceremony at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy; this performance drew the longest and loudest ovation of the night.

Pavarotti was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in July 2006 and saw his health dwindling over the course of time. On August 9, 2007, he was hospitalised in his hometown of Modena.

He was reported to be in a "very serious condition" on September 5. The great tenor died early morning on September 6 at his home in Modena. He is survived by four daughters and one granddaughter.