Pavarotti dies at 71
MODENA, Italy (Reuters) - Legendary Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, whose unique, pristine voice and charisma brought opera to the masses, died of cancer on Thursday aged 71.
"There were tenors, and then there was Pavarotti," said Italian film director Franco Zeffirelli.
His health had been failing for a year, but the death of the bearded tenor, known as "Big Luciano" because of his 127 kg (280 lb) frame, saddened everyone from impresarios and critics to fans who could barely afford the tickets to his concerts.
Although past opera greats often locked themselves in a gilded, elitist world, television viewers round the world heard Pavarotti sing with pop stars like Sting and Bono in his "Pavarotti and Friends" benefit concerts.
"Some can sing opera; Luciano Pavarotti WAS an opera," Bono said on his Web site. "I spoke to him last week ... the voice that was louder than any rock band was a whisper."
London's Royal Opera House said: "He introduced the extraordinary power of opera to people who perhaps would never have encountered opera and classical singing. In doing so, he enriched their lives." Vienna's Staatsoper flew a black flag.
SUPERSTARDOM
Pavarotti leapt to superstardom when he and two other great tenors, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, sang at Rome's Caracalla Baths during the 1990 soccer World Cup in Italy.
Sales of opera albums shot up after the concert. The aria "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's "Turandot", which has the famous line "All'alba vincero'" -- "At dawn I will be victorious" -- became as familiar to soccer fans as the usual stadium chants.
At the changing of the guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London, the band played the aria in honor of the opera star who died on the 10th anniversary of Princess Diana's funeral.
Diana had been one of his biggest fans.
Mourners applauded as a hearse carrying Pavarotti's white coffin arrived at the cathedral in Modena. His body will be on display until his funeral at 3 p.m. (1300 GMT) on Saturday.
In the 12th century cathedral, a stream of mourners passed the open coffin, pausing to glance at Pavarotti -- dressed in a black tuxedo, his hands holding a handkerchief and rosary -- as his wife and other family members grieved in silence nearby.
CHARISMATIC
"He was without doubt one of the most important tenors of all time," Carreras told Sweden's Expressen newspaper. "He was a wonderful man, a charismatic person -- and a good poker player." Continued...
Pavarotti dies at 71
