Luciano Pavarotti has always had a magnificent voice. At the age of twenty-six he won first prize at the Achille Peri International Singing Competition. On April 29, 1961, he made his debut with an important role, Rodolfo in La Bohème at the Municipal Theater of Reggio Emilia. Pavarotti was from Modena, this important debut took place almost “at home”, but the great success with the public and critics he had achieved on that occasion was certainly not the result of parochialism.
His voice had enchanted everyone, so much so that always in the same year Pavarotti had also made his first exhibition abroad. This time playing Alfredo in La Traviata at the Belgrade Theater. It was December 3, 1961.
A great philanthropic artist, from the most prestigious theaters in the world to Pavarotti & Friends
Luciano Pavarotti, artist and man. The artist talks about himself with an extraordinary career spanning over forty years, studded with prizes, certifications, acknowledgments received in all parts of the world. Pavarotti man has been able to excite not only with his inimitable voice but also with his way of being and with strength of its simplicity, as his wife Nicoletta Mantovani has recalled on several occasions. The secret of his charisma “It was that of having an extraordinary talent, but also of being a simple person. He never thought he was the best ".
His charisma was also what led him to organize many charitable initiatives, in particular for the children of the poor countries of the world. Thus was born the concert Pavarotti & Friends, a special event produced in his hometown from 1992 to 2003, bringing together many artists of different musical genres. A long list of rock, pop and jazz stars who together with him (some duets are unforgettable) have given life to extraordinary evenings. Events of great artistic level thanks to which millions of dollars have been raised for many humanitarian causes.
The "conquest" of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York
Dai great successes in the most prestigious theaters in Italy to the "conquest" of America. Even today, almost fourteen years after the Maestro's death, on the other side of the Atlantic the name of Luciano Pavarotti is synonymous with great “work”. As well as being a symbol and emblem of Italian culture and style. Pavarotti began singing in the United States very early, since 1965.
In 1968 he was already at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York and from that moment this theater became his home, the place where his American myth was born and raised. He will celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of his debut at the Metropolitan on November 22, 1998 New York with a great gala evening. Many successful shows, including The Daughter of the Regiment Donizetti: nine C's from the chest will blow up the theater with an unprecedented standing ovation that will call him 17 times. It never happened.
With José Carreras and Placido Domingo to make the opera known to ever wider audiences
And then the concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York, at the Wembley stadiums in London and Olympic in Berlin, at the Hollywood Bowl, at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona, in the Roman amphitheater in Orange, at the Verona Arena. In 1991 he is the protagonist of a big concert at Hyde Park in London with 250 spectators including the Prince and Princess of Wales. In 1993 the location becomes the Central Park, New York with half a million spectators. These are events that all become world successes.
Luciano Pavarotti, the protagonist of many traditional shows, also loves to experiment with new forms of musical entertainment to make opera appreciated by ever wider audiences. Just remember the very followers (not only by music lovers) concerts by the Three Tenors with colleagues José Carreras and Placido Domingo. The three artists will find themselves singing together from Rome to Los Angeles, from Paris to Vienna, from Beijing to Japan. Concerts that have been broadcast by televisions all over the world and which have become major media events.
Ambassador of Italian bel canto and culture in the world
Media concerts as well as some looks of the great Maestro: his red floral shirt, his hats, scarves and foulards. Unforgettable little elements of a success which, as the Foundation dedicated to him points out, "was due to two fundamental elements: first of all, his extraordinarily powerful voice with its wonderfully unique timbre, and secondly, the exceptional nature of his great and radiant personality ". Personality who made it a ambassador of bel canto and Italian culture in the world. And whose legacy is above all "enclosed in the importance of promoting culture to build a better world".
Photographs kindly granted by the Luciano Pavarotti Foundation.
