[Publisher’s Note: After this was written, it was announced to the world that Luciano Pavarotti passed away on the island of Sicily, Italy – Flash]
The French novalist, Emile Zola, once wrote, "I am an artist… I am here to live out loud." Zola was agreat artist, and was also involved in politics, bravely standing up to the anti-Semitism of the Second Republic in France and exposing the so-called Dreyfus affair in the military. He was shunned, but lived to be a hero.
Luciano Pavarotti is no politician. Reports today are that he is dying in Modena, Italy, his hometown. But he was surely an artist that was "here to live out loud." And how loud! The first Opera I ever attended was with my dad and a Catholic priest at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera house in 1966, where as just a boy I heard a young man named Pavarotti sing a Rudolfo in Puccini’s "La Boheme" that literally blew away the crowd. I didn’t fully know what I was hearing at the time, but I knew it was special. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen wrote after that performance that Pavarotti not only had a fantastic voice, but he looked very much like the 49ers bull-like Leo Nomillini. Having been there, the image is both powerful and a compelling combination.
Pavarotti is arguably the greatest tenor of the 20th century. Some might say Jussi Bjoerling, or Caruso. And they were both fantastic. And Pavarotti sang at time of high competition, from both Los Angeles Operas’ current artistic director Placido Domingo, and also the Great Jose Carreras, in total the "Three Tenors." But Pavarotti was the man, the guy who hit the high C, the man who the others would defer to sing the high note in Three Tenor concerts of "Nessun Dorma," like no one else could.
Pavarotti was no politician, like Zola, but he was and is a hero for his music and the joy he brought to life, and his music will live on as a testament to his artistry for generations to come.
September 6th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Jim, that is a great story about seeing and hearing the
master in 1966, an experience roughly analogous to seeing
Babe Ruth before he joined the Yankees.
Rest in Peace to a gallant man and artist.
September 6th, 2007 at 12:00 am
What a privilige you enjoyed.
I was also saddened, for quite different reasons, to note the passing of Dr. D. James Kennedy of Coral Ridge Ministries, who in my view gave the modern “evangelical right” some serious intellectual underpinnings.
September 6th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Thanks, Mark. Dr. Kennedy was a great man, who was never tainted by scandal, and who helped many thousands on their intellectual and spiritual walk. May he RIP.