Why is Luciano Pavarotti so famous

A. Pavarotti’s fame is a combination of his particularly high profile as a renowned opera tenor, which has given him ‘cross-over’ appeal into a more mainstream entertainment area, and his acknowledged technical skill.

Q. Were the early signs of the fame to come

A. If the story is to be believed, when Luciano was born, he gave such a lusty yell with his first breath, that the doctor in attendance commented on the strength of his voice, and advised his parents that he would grow up to be a tenor.

Q. What did his parents reckon to that idea

A. They were delighted – Luciano’s father was a renowned tenor himself, and the youngster grew up listening to his father singing in local choirs, as well as enjoying the family’s massive collection of opera albums.

Q. So he was always going to follow the family musical tradition then

A. Actually no. It may seem difficult to imagine, given Luciano’s build as an adult, but as a child, he was a talented footballer, and there was a family conference to discuss which particular talent he should follow – sport, and become a gym instructor, or music, and train as a professional singer. Sport’s loss turned out to be opera’s gain.

Q. Is it true that Pavarotti has only been famous since the 1980’s

A. Although Pavarotti is probably one of the most famous opera singers in the world, many people believe that his fame started with his work as one of The Three Tenors, but in fact his career goes back to 1961, when he made his solo debut as Rodolfo in La Boheme, a role he was to reprise many times in his career.

In 1963, Pavarotti was rehearsing for La Boheme at Covent Garden, standing in for the world-renowned tenor Giuseppe Di Stefano, who was to take the stage in the production. Fate intervened, the great man was taken ill, and the junior understudy stood in at Covent Garden, and also in a TV appearance on the influential Sunday Night At The London Palladium. Pavarotti’s profile increased with his American debut in 1965 when he joined the world famous diva Joan Sutherland in Lucia di Lammermoor, the first of many appearances of the two stars together. Operatic ‘superstardom’ followed in 1972 after Pavarotti’s appearance in La Fille du Regiment at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Having faultlessly, and with previously unseen vigour and volume, delivered an aria containing no less than 9 sustained high C notes, Pavarotti watched as the audience broke into sustained spontaneous applause. A star was born.

Q. Does Pavarotti play more concerts than anyone else

A. Pavarotti has managed his career very skilfully, starting with a reprisal of his role as Rodolfo for the television broadcast Live At The Met, the first of a dozen broadcasts which again increased his reputation, simultaneously raising the profile of serious opera for a wider audience throughout America, and onwards round the world. In addition to his operatic roles within full scale opera productions, Pavarotti has embarked on a hectic and prolific schedule of stadium concerts and recordings – virtually all his work has now been committed to record, and his sales continue to increase, assisted by the joining together of his peers, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, the world famous Three Tenors.

Q. So anyone who reckons that Pavarotti arrived with the 1990 World Cup has missed out on a long and successful career

A. They have – far from being the ‘start’ of Pavarotti’s career, his rendition of Puccini’s Nessun Dorma, which became the theme for the UK television coverage of the World Cup simply gave a further boost to a career which has seen Pavarotti become a known name, even to people who know nothing whatsoever about opera. The final emotional lines of the song, which captured the spirit of the nation at the time, “All’aba vincero, vincero, vincero” which translates as “With the dawn, I win, I win, I win.” can be seen as a fitting description of the ongoing career of Luciano Pavarotti.

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By: Andy Hughes.