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Introduction
Luciano Pavarotti is probably the most famous opera singer in the world and is known to millions who have never set foot inside an opera house.
Pavarotti was born in Italy in 1935. His father was a baker and sang in the local church choir and opera house chorus. As a child, Pavarotti lived with recordings of Benjamino Gigli, Italy's greatest tenor after Caruso, and dreamed of becoming an opera singer. For six years he studied singing and worked for an insurance company until in 1961 he won a singing competition. Only two years later he was singing at Covent Garden as Rodolfo in La Bohème. In 1966 he sang with Joan Sutherland in La Fille du Régiment – hitting nine high ‘C's. The audience went crazy.
Pavarotti became not only an opera star but a media figure, appearing in commercials, on chat shows and showed a distinct flair for keeping in the public eye. With Placido Domingo and José Carreras, he was one of the ‘Three Tenors' at the World Cup concert in Rome in 1990. His concerts in parks and open spaces like Central Park Gardens in New York and Hyde Park in London made opera popular with a mass audience.
Pavarotti fits the popular public image of an Italian tenor. His size matches his ebullient personality and considerable natural charm. Vocally he
is exuberant and emotional. He can make each member of an audience feel that he is singing to them alone. One critic described his appearances as
‘happy occasions' and his love of singing easily communicates to audiences.
