Late Italian superstar tenor Luciano
Pavaroti has got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The Modena-born.and-died supertenor, who died on September 6,
2007 aged 71, was celebrated at a ceremony where his daughter
Cristina and Los Angeles Orchestra Director James Conlon were
among those paying homage to the legendary Italian opera singer.
Star no 2730, placed next to those of Sydney Poitier, Stan Lee,
Ennio Morricone and Lina Wertmuller, comes 10 days before the
25th anniversary of Pavarotti's death.
"If I think of my father, of the paths he opened and the many
emotions he gave and received, I feel a sense of vertigo," said
Cristina on behalf of her sisters Lorenza, Giuliana and Alice,
Pavarotti's widow Nicoletta Mantovani and their younger daughter
Caterina.
She recalled how her father, after his barnstorming
performances, "happy but tired and hungry, would stay there for
hours signing autographs, so as not to leave even one fan
unhappy".
Conlon recalled an artist who was prepared to take risks when
few others were ready to do so, such as when he sang Nessun
Dorma for the 1990 World Cup and the aria became his piece de
resistance.
And Pavarotti's Hollywood star also provides further backing for
Italian opera's bid to get onto the UNESCO intangible cultural
heritage list next year.
An area dedicated to Pavarotti will be opened at the Grammy
Museum on Thursday.
The tenor won five Grammies plus one 'legend' prize during his
career.
The new exhibit will include the score for his first performance
of Verdi's Requiem conducted by Herbert von Karajan at La Scala
in 1967, on which Pavarotti went on to gather the signatures of
many of the great conductors who performed with him during his
30-year career.
Pavarotti was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part
of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually
becoming one of the most acclaimed and loved tenors of all time.
He made numerous recordings of complete operas and individual
arias, gaining worldwide fame for his tone, and achieving the
honorific title "King of the High Cs".
As one of the Three Tenors, who performed their first concert
during the 1990 FIFA World Cup before a global audience,
Pavarotti became well known for his televised concerts and media
appearances.
From the beginning of his professional career as a tenor in 1961
in Italy to his final performance of "Nessun dorma" at the 2006
Winter Olympics in Turin, Pavarotti was at his best in bel canto
operas, pre-Aida Verdi roles, and Puccini works such as La
bohème, Tosca, Turandot and Madama Butterfly.
He sold over 100 million records, and the first Three Tenors
recording became the best-selling classical album of all time.
Pavarotti was also noted for his charity work on behalf of
refugees and the Red Cross, amongst others.
He died from pancreatic cancer on 6 September 2007.
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