Word: italianizer
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...bottom up to the very top of the tenor range." Back in Italy, Minister of Culture Francesco Rutelli concluded that, "Luciano Pavarotti was a giant of the 20th century. His unrivaled and imposing vocal power, like his stage presence, made him one of the top protagonists of the Italian opera tradition...
...status as cultural icon was sealed by unprecedented duets with rock and pop music singers, from Bono to Stevie Wonder to Celine Dion. Some opera purists will never forgive the tenor for these Pavarotti and Friends performances, which he acknowledged in one of his final interviews last year with Italian journalist Ettore Mo. "There were polemics because I'd thrown myself into a completely different genre," Pavarotti noted. But in the same interview, just a few months after cancer surgery, Pavarotti was counting his blessings. "I am and have been a lucky man," he said. "I will be an optimist...
...Gemma Luzzi, 65, a retired high school Italian teacher from Rome, recalled how Pavarotti's early performances gave new impetus to the classical form. But she wondered if the singer grew too attached to his fame. "He had a grand voice, but maybe he didn't have the strength to retire when he was on top. Maybe I'm a purist, but I never liked these duets (with pop singers). It kept him in the spotlight, so I guess he had fun doing them...
Audience members at the Metropolitan Opera looked at one another in amazement. Did we just hear what we thought we heard? Onstage, the strapping young Italian tenor singing opposite Joan Sutherland in The Daughter of the Regiment had just trumpeted a ringing high C, then another, and another. He was singing an aria that most tenors transpose down a step, in order to get by on B-flats (tough enough). But this fellow tossed off every high C in the aria with astonishing ease and brilliance - nine in all. The effect was electrifying. Within a day the Met box office...
...more recent years, Pavarotti has been dogged by run-ins with the Italian tax police and hounded by the gossip pages for his divorce to his longtime wife and marriage to his much younger assistant. The singer has repeatedly announced his retirement, only to be called out for one last concert and curtain call. Most recently, though, plans for a farewell tour were put off after he was diagnosed with cancer. He had surgery in July 2006, and has undergone repeated rounds of chemotherapy, and has not been seen in public in more than a year. Pavarotti released a statement...