Opera World Mourns Loss of Luciano Pavarotti

The final chapter of Luciano Pavarotti’s life ended early this morning, as he passed away while surrounded by family in his hometown of Modena, Italy. Rising to the top of his profession over a 50 year journey, the 71-year-old performer will be mourned both by an adoring public as well as a grieving family.

“The Maestro fought a long, tough battle against the pancreatic cancer which eventually took his life. In fitting with the approach that characterized his life and work, he remained positive until finally succumbing to the last stages of his illness,” according to a family spokesman.

The son of a baker who dabbled in singing, Luciano used to sit and listen to his father’s recordings of tenor greats like Beniamino Gigli, Tito Schipa, Jussi Bjoerling and Giuseppe Di Stefano, his favorite. By his early teens, Luciano was performing in the church choir with his father, and after winning first place at a music festival in Wales at age 20, Luciano decided to pursue a professional singing career.

No stranger to controversy, Luciano seemed to thrive on chaos in both his professional as well as personal life. On the professional side, Lucianno was praised for his mastery of voice, while at the same time he was often accused of selling out to commercialism. Luciano felt that adjusting the music that he loved to fit what the public wanted was a good thing, unfortunately the old guard in the opera world did not appreciate this.

Constantly battling his much publicized weight problem, the performer reportedly weighed 398 pounds back in 1978. Discussing his love of food with the need to stay healthy, Luciano explained that he consistently tried to diet and hoped that, “Maybe this time I’ll really do it and keep it up”. 

In keeping with a whirlwind life style that often had him whispered about around the water cooler, Luciano divorced his first wife that he had three children with and had been married to for 24 years. He then married his 26 year old secretary in 1996. Luciano later confessed that his marriage to his secretary was hastened by the arrival of his fourth and final child to his new wife. 

From receiving awards for his humanitarian work to claims of tax evasion, Luciano lived a life that was both colorful and diverse. His love of performing will be sorely missed by those who had the pleasure of seeing him live, but the passion that he inspired in later generations will continue to live on.

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