Blog of Norman Ralph

Luciano Pavarotti is probably the most well known classical singer in the world. His rendition of Nessun Dorma alongside Domingo and Carreras at Italia ‘90 is still one of my top five most moving moments. Maybe it is my affinity with the song that has led me to develop some sort of admiration for The Maestro, but I felt a deep sense of loss this morning when I awoke to the news of his death. He died of pancreatic cancer in his home in Modena, Italy aged seventy-one.

Pavarotti was a typical operatic singer, he was a large man with a voice that many people could recognise instantly. With over thirty years of stage perfomance behind him I wonder if it is too much to say that he was one of the all-time great classical vocalists. He still holds the record for the most curtain calls (at 165) and the fastest selling classical album of all time, a record he shares as part of the Three Tenors.

I think the world will not take this death too seriously, he was known for cancelling gigs, being somewhat difficult to work with and recent scandal about his ability to read music and act on stage tarnished his reputation. I think, however, people will start to realsie exactly what they have lost when they can no longer listen to the magical, smooth voice of possibly the greatest tenor voice ever.

Luciano Pavarotti, rest in peace.

See a rendition of his signature piece, Nessun Dorma, here.