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Dateline: 6th September, 2007
Luciano Pavarotti (1935 - 2007) Luciano Pavarotti, probably the greatest operatic star of his generation, has died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 71. He died early this morning at his home in Modena. He had surgery for the cancer in New York in 2006 and has since had five courses of chemotherapy. He was again admitted to hospital with a fever in August and discharged two weeks later after tests. "The Maestro fought a long, tough battle against the pancreatic cancer which eventually took his life," his manager Terri Robinson said. "In fitting with the approach that characterised his life and work, he remained positive until finally succumbing to the last stages of his illness." Born in October 1935, he worked as an insurance salesman and teacher whilst studying singing, and made his opera debut at the Teatro Municipale in Reggio Emilia as Rudolfo in La Bohème. He made his first London appearance - and signed his first recording contract - in 1964, again in La Bohème at the London Palladium in a performance which was broadcast internationally, replacing Giuseppe di Stefano who was ill. The following year he went on to make debuts at La Scala and in Miami where he performed alongside Joan Sutherland in Lucia di Lammermoor, which was the Australian soprano's signature role. In 1972, again appearing with Sutherland, he received a record seventeen curtain calls for his performance in La Fille du Regiment at the New York Met. In the late eighties he became known for frequent cancellations of his appearances but in 1990 his performance of Nessun Dorma alongside Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo at the closing ceremony of the World Cup in Italy made him an international name far beyond the confines of the opera world and began the famous series of Three Tenors concerts at Los Angeles (1994), Paris (1998) and Yokohama (2002). Each reputedly earned him £1m. In 1998 concerns about his health began and he had hip and knee operations and lost 50lbs in weight and he began to hint at possible retirement. His final opera performance was as Cavaradossi in Tosca at the Met in 2004. His last concert performance was in Taipei in December 2005 and in February the following year he gave his last ever performance at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Turin. In July of this year, it was announced that he would be recording an album of classical religious music for release in 2008 but was admitted to hospital in August.
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