World Bids Farewell To Luciano Pavarotti

[RestoreGore]

:cry: Sweet dreams, Maestro. Your voice made my world and the world a better place.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070908/ap_on_en_mu/pavarotti

World bids farewell to Luciano Pavarotti
By COLLEEN BARRY, Associated Press Writers
24 minutes ago

MODENA, Italy - Luciano Pavarotti's voice rang out a final time Saturday inside Modena's cathedral, as a recording of the great tenor singing with his father highlighted a funeral attended by family, dignitaries and close friends.

Guests gave the tenor one last standing ovation when "Panis Angelicus," the 1978 duet Pavarotti sang with his father, Fernando, inside Modena's Duomo came to a close.

The duet was one of the most poignant moments of the funeral, which began with a moving rendition of Verdi's "Ave Maria" and a message of condolences from Pope Benedict XVI saying Pavarotti had "honored the divine gift of music through his extraordinary interpretative talent."

Thousands watched the invitation-only service from a huge television screen erected in Modena's main piazza, where a recording of the tenor's most famous works had boomed out during two days of public viewing.

Italy's air force precision flying team flew over the cathedral at the end of the service, releasing red, white and green smoke in the colors of the Italian flag.

Pavarotti's white maple casket, covered in sunflowers — his favorite — lay before the altar during the service, with his wife, Nicoletta Mantovani, looking on. Sitting nearby were Pavarotti's three daughters from his first marriage.

snip

Tenor Andrea Bocelli sang Mozart's "Ave Verum Corpus" while the Rossini Chorus performed hymns throughout the service, which was celebrated by Modena Archbishop Benito Cocchi and 18 other priests.

Bulgarian-born soprano Raina Kabaivanska, a fellow Modena resident who had worked with Pavarotti, cried as she sang the "Ave Maria" from Verdi's "Otello" as the ceremony began. Flautist Andrea Griminelli played the "Dance of the Blessed Spirits" from Gluck's "Orfeo e Euridice."

Cocchi said the presence of so many dignitaries at the funeral was a sign "of the esteem, of the affection and of the gratitude that universally surrounds the great artist."

snip

Modena city officials estimated that roughly 100,000 people viewed Pavarotti's body over two days.

snip

Pavarotti was the best-selling classical artist, with more than 100 million records sold since the 1960s, and he had the first classical album to reach No. 1 on the pop charts.

end of excerpt

[Submariner]

1. Pavarotti was a great.. Paul Potts may fill his shoes someday

A star is born singing Nessum Dorma.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Emsnbc%2Emsn%2Ecom%2Fid%2F19291117%2F

[RestoreGore]

2. Great voice

Was there some controversy over whether he had some formal experience before going on Britain's Got Talent?

[monmouth]

3. I don't believe he did. Wonder if Pavarotti heard him sing this??

[Submariner]

5. Idiot critics got on his case, but it was minimal beginner training years ago

no link available:

I May Not Give Up the Day Job Just Yet, Says Talent Show’s Opera Winner
The Times, 19th June

The mobile-phone salesman who triumphed in the Britain’s Got Talent series with his version of Nessun Dorma is poised for a new career as the “people’s Pavarotti”.

Paul Potts, 36, won the £100,000 prize and a place on the bill of the Royal Variety Performance after impressing the judges and 12 million viewers of the ITV1 show. Now the former Tesco shelf-stacker from Port Talbot, South Wales, is set to fulfil his dream of being an opera star. Potts begins recording his debut album this week and has received a string of concert offers. He is lining up a duet with Katherine Jenkins, the Welsh singer.

Potts spent £12,000 on singing lessons before deciding that his dream was not meant to be. He began stacking shelves in Tesco but had to quit work because of ill-health. Doctors treated him for appendicitis and removed a benign tumour, then Potts broke his collarbone. He landed a job at Carphone Warehouse after battling back to health, and married a woman he met on the internet.

The overnight sensation said that he was not certain that he would give up his job. He was planning to pay off his £30,000 debts and would treat himself to dental work. “I’m not sure about veneers but I do want to get the crown repaired,” he said. “It would be nice to be able to smile naturally.”

Potts spent £4,000 on master classes with the likes of Pavarotti but has not had any tuition for four years. He recalled: “Pavarotti took me aside and asked me to sing again. There were ten other people there and I was the only one he asked, so I took that as a compliment.” Potts ran out of breath on one note. Pavarotti told him he should not have and asked him to try singing a classic from the opera Tosca instead.

Potts added: “I wasn’t truly aware of the effect my voice can have on others so the reaction has been a surprise, it’s just incredible.

“I did suffer bullying when I was going to school, so having confidence in myself has been a bit of a struggle. So to go in front of some of the most feared judges on this planet was taking a considerable risk and I’m just glad that people in this country believed in me enough to make that risk pay off.”

Simon Cowell, the television judge who created the “cross-over” operatic quartet Il Divo, will guide Potts’s career.

The series, which ran nightly across ITV1, became a ratings juggernaut, marking Michael Grade’s first big success since becoming the network’s chief.

A swift return is expected for the show, whose variety wanna-bes included performing dogs and pigs.

[RestoreGore]

7. Yes, idiot critics have a habit of doing this.

They did it to Andrea Bocelli as well. I wish him well. Thanks for the article.

[partylessinOhio]

4. The coffin of Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti leaves the cathedral of Modena.

The Italian air force conduct a double flyover
with 10 planes trailing the national colours of green,
white and red above Modena's central square after the
funeral mass in tribute to Italy's opera superstar
Luciano Pavarotti. Thousands of mourners led by top
political figures and stars of the entertainment world
have attended the funeral of Pavarotti.

[RestoreGore]

6. Wow, thank you for the pictures n/t

[partylessinOhio]

8. You're welcome. There are 908 photos at this link:

http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/search?p=Luciano+Pavarotti+&c=news_photos

People pay their homage to late Italian tenor
Luciano Pavarotti in Modena's Duomo where he is laying
in state, northern Italy, Friday, Sept. 7, 2007.

[mcscajun]

9. Italian TV aired the funeral of Maestro Pavarotti, Live. Here's the feed

after the fact. Caution: It's nearly two hours long and completely in Italian. I watched it earlier today as it was happening. There are some wonderful moments in it.

http://www.rai.tv/mpplaymediageneric/0,,News%5E28%5E33831,00.html

[monmouth]

10. Thank you so much for this post. I've been trained in music, Paul Potts

has great, great potential. Pavarotti would not have taken him on if he didn't hear it too. He is a diamond in the rough, he must lose some weight and start doing those exercises that will enhance is breathing controls. Twice I played both versions, Pavaratti and then Potts. I can't wait to hear Potts in about five years. He will be sensational. Thank you again.

[RestoreGore]

11. Thank you

I will get to watch this today.

[RestoreGore]

12. front page of Luciano Pavarotti's website

http://www.lucianopavarotti.com/

Understandably that is all there is, but the picture and quote are a wonderful remembrance to him.