Requiescat in Pace Luciano
One of my very first memories of Christmas was the sound of Silent Night sung in full voice by an expansive Italian tenor who I would later come to know and love as Luciano Pavarotti. To me, he was always the personification of opera, over sized, overstated and over dramatic but so brilliantly sincere that you couldn't help but love it.
Over a period of years, I must have listened to every single Pavarotti and Friends for the Children of - CD ever made. And I love them. They're strange and frothy confections of such diverse singing styles and musical traditions as the Sarajevo Children's Choir, the Italian superstar Zuccherro and such European luminaries as Sting and Bono. They were fun and singable and introduced me to bands and singers from around the world, none of whom I love as much as Pavarotti himself. And they did so much good! They raised money, both the concerts and the sales, for children in war or famine torn countries.
Pavarotti was just such a presence. In pictures he was always smiling his head off, and always as if he really meant it. When he sang it was impossible not to listen, because even if I didn't understand, it sounded brilliant. He brought me, a normal American kid, opera. And he made me like it. A feat which I'm sure is unsurpassed in the history of mankind.
So what I'm really saying is, I'm going to miss him. There's nobody in the world that can replace him as my voice of opera.
Over a period of years, I must have listened to every single Pavarotti and Friends for the Children of - CD ever made. And I love them. They're strange and frothy confections of such diverse singing styles and musical traditions as the Sarajevo Children's Choir, the Italian superstar Zuccherro and such European luminaries as Sting and Bono. They were fun and singable and introduced me to bands and singers from around the world, none of whom I love as much as Pavarotti himself. And they did so much good! They raised money, both the concerts and the sales, for children in war or famine torn countries.
Pavarotti was just such a presence. In pictures he was always smiling his head off, and always as if he really meant it. When he sang it was impossible not to listen, because even if I didn't understand, it sounded brilliant. He brought me, a normal American kid, opera. And he made me like it. A feat which I'm sure is unsurpassed in the history of mankind.
So what I'm really saying is, I'm going to miss him. There's nobody in the world that can replace him as my voice of opera.