Luciano Pavarotti Net Worth

Biography of Luciano Pavarotti

Luciano Pavarotti is the world-famous Italian operatic tenor, whose love of life and colorful figure will forever remain in the memory of his fans. His hallmark was the aria Nessun dorma from Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot.

He did not like the minor key either in life or on stage, with his singing he aroused genuine feelings in people, introduced them to the cultural heritage, and taught love.

Since the founding of the Grammy Award, he has been awarded it 15 times, and in 1998 received the Grammy Legend Award. The great tenor died in 2007 – he died of pancreatic cancer.

Childhood, youth, family

Luciano was born in the autumn of 1935 and became the sixth child in the family of Fernando Pavarotti and Adele Venturi from Modena, Italy. The long-awaited boy from the cradle was spoiled by everyone, from parents and sisters to numerous relatives. Luciano’s father worked as a baker, and his mother worked in a cigarette factory.

When the Nazis came to power in 1943, the family moved out of town, where they began to farm. In one of his interviews, the singer recalled how difficult it was to leave his beloved city of Modena, which, by its geographical location, made people talented and cheerful from birth:

That city is immersed in mists, from which the voice becomes soft. But lambrusco helps to be consistently cheerful. People often ask me why I sing? Because I can’t help it. My father also sang. He had a magical voice, a hundred times better than mine. But before the career of a singer, he was afraid. I can say the same about my hairdresser, the neighbor’s baker, they also had great voices. But if you do not have iron nerves, you will never become a singer.

According to the recollections of the tenor, he was four years old when he climbed onto the table and shouted: “My dad is a tenor, and I am a tenorino! There-ta-there!” and sang “La donna e mobile” [«Сердце красавицы склонно к измене – прим. uznayvse.ru]. Life surrounded by women – sisters, mothers, grandmothers, aunts, according to Luciano, made his voice lyrical and soft.

Seeing that his son willingly sings and plays music, his father began to take him with him to the church choir, where he sang himself and taught the boy to spiritual chants. At home, Luciano listened to the gramophone recordings of Enrico Caruso and Tito Skipa, whom his father loved. Having once heard young Pavarotti sing, Professor Dondi volunteered to give him lessons. But having paid for several classes, Luciano stopped going to him – there was no money.

The boy’s second passion was football, and he even thought that he could become a goalkeeper, but a caring mother begged her son not to get injured, but rather to become a teacher. Pavarotti received a pedagogical education, began to work at a school, but his dreams of a big stage did not leave him.

creative way

Tenor Arrigo Pola, who lived in Modena and knew about the poverty of a gifted young man, agreed to give Luciano free vocal lessons, which he gratefully took advantage of. Having perfect pitch by nature, Luciano grasped knowledge on the fly. Soon Paula left for Japan, and he began to study with Ettori Campogalliani. Having announced to his parents that he wanted to become a singer, the young man left school.

The teacher had a condition: if Luciano did not achieve anything in the musical field before the age of thirty, he would stop helping him. Pavarotti agreed. At first, he gave free concerts in neighboring towns, which brought him neither money nor special fame.

He was completely desperate in the chosen path when he lost his voice due to thickening of the ligaments after suffering laryngitis. But a year later, the voice was restored, having received that unique coloring that helped Luciano reach the pinnacle of operatic skill.

Success came to Pavarotti in 1961 at an international vocal competition. He became the undisputed winner. Then he made his debut on the stage of the theater Reggio Emil. Luciano appeared on stage as Rudolf in Giacomo Puccini’s La bohème. Together with him, the son of the writer Vladimir Nabokov, Dmitry, who performed the part of Collen, participated in the performance. In 1963, Pavarotti had already performed at London’s Covent Garden and at the famous Vienna Opera with the same part. Since then, the career of the Italian tenor has taken off.

Together with the famous opera diva Joan Elston Sutherland, he performed on the stage of the opera house in Miami, USA, and after performing the part of Tonio in Gaetano Donizetti’s The Regiment’s Daughter at the Royal Theater in London, he was invited by the world’s best scenes.

In 1966, he made his debut at La Scala, where he managed to sing nine high notes of “C” in a row at the full sound of his voice, after which Pavarotti began to be called “the king of the upper C”. His impresario, Herbert Breslin, organized performances in the most famous theaters, Luciano also toured with concerts, performing arias, canzones and Italian folk songs.

The best parties of Pavarotti were rightfully considered the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto by Manrico in Il trovatore, Radamès in Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida. In 1974, the famous tenor went on tour at La Scala in Moscow, made recordings of “In Memory of Caruso”, “O sole mio!”.

With the light hand of Luciano, young performers got the opportunity to express themselves at The Pavarotti International Voice Competition. The winners went on tour with the Italian tenor, performed in Genoa, Beijing, Philadelphia.

The next round of world recognition came to the singer along with the joint performance of the aria “Nessun dorma” from Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Turandot” with Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo in the final of the World Cup in Italy.

The Three Tenors, as they later became known, sang the aria in Rome, in the ancient baths of Caracalla. The recording of the performance was replicated and sold out in such quantity that this fact was recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.

They began to talk about the fact that Pavarotti took the opera to the street, there were critics who reproached the star for being illegible, and in the meantime he gathered thousands of people in London’s Hyde Park and New York’s Central Park, gave an open concert in Paris on the Champ de Mars.

Pavarotti-Domingo-Carreras concerts have become traditional for the World Cup. The program “Pavarotti and Friends”, created by Luciano, featured the most famous pop singers, including Sting, Celine Dion, Elton John.

Personal life of Luciano Pavarotti

The first wife of the famous tenor was the aspiring singer Adua Veroni, whom he met while studying singing with Arrigo Paula. The girl also took vocal lessons, and Luciano, with his characteristic passion, began to court her.

They were able to get married only in 1961, when Pavarotti achieved his first successes. A year later, the couple had a daughter, Lorenza, in 1964, another girl, Christina, and in 1967, baby Juliana completed the “children’s trio”.

Luciano was not a faithful husband, and even with his popularity, it was quite difficult. The Italian temperament required an exit not only on the stage, Pavarotti, like air, needed adoration, especially for the beautiful half of the public.

Having lived with Adua for forty years, Luciano fell in love, as if for the first time, with a young woman, Nicoletta Montovani. At that time, he was already sixty, and his chosen one turned 24. Love was so strong that the singer decided to divorce.

According to the artist, it was a very difficult period for everyone, but as soon as they were officially divorced from Adua, he proposed to his beloved and set about building a mansion for his new family. In 2003, the couple had twins – a boy, Ricardo, and a girl, Alice. The son died a few days later, Pavarotti was left without an heir and devoted the rest of his life to his wife and daughter.

Death and memory

The great tenor took to the stage for the last time in 2004. He already knew his diagnosis: pancreatic cancer. At the New York Metropolitan Opera, Luciano officially announced his departure, after which he appeared before the audience as Mario in Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca. At the end of the performance, the audience gave a standing ovation for more than ten minutes, saying goodbye to their idol.

In a recent interview, Pavarotti admitted:

I was lucky until I was 65. Then came this misfortune. And now I’m paying for this luck and happiness. But I find nourishment in my childhood, which was poor and happy, and I am perfectly aware of everything that happens. Illness has never bothered me. A tumor, you feel it somewhere inside, it processes you. Now I sleep well. And I am an optimist and will remain so until my death.

In 2005, an album was released with the best Pavarotti numbers, and in 2006, at the Winter Olympics in Turin, the Three Tenors were sung as usual. Last time. After that, the singer went to the operation, which slightly improved his condition. But the weakened body could not cope with pneumonia, Luciano again ended up in the hospital. September 6, 2007 in his hometown of Madena Pavarotti died.

The coffin with the body stood in the cathedral for three days so that everyone could say goodbye to the legend of the opera stage. He was buried in the family crypt of the Montale Rangone cemetery, next to his parents and son.

In memory of the great singer, concerts of opera and pop stars are held annually. In Modena, at the entrance to the municipal theater, a bronze statue of a famous fellow countryman was installed. Several documentaries have been made about Luciano. One of the latest was Ron Howard’s two-hour biopic Pavarotti, filmed for the opera artist’s 85th birthday.

Important events in life

• 1954: Started taking free vocal lessons from tenor Arrigo Paul.
• 1961: won the international vocal competition. He married Adua Veroni.
• 1962: Lorenz’s daughter was born.
• 1963: He made his debut at Covent Garden in London and at the Vienna Opera.
• 1964: daughter Christina was born.
• 1966: debuted at La Scala.
• 1967: Daughter Juliana was born.
• 1974: Tours took place in Moscow.
• 1981: Founded The Pavarotti International Voice Competition.
• 1988: set a Guinness Book record – in Berlin after the performance of “Love Potion” he bowed 165 times.
• 1990: as part of the Three Tenors, he performed the famous aria Nessun dorma from the opera Turandot by Giacomo Puccini in the final of the World Cup in Italy. Further concerts have become a tradition of all the World Cups.
• 1998: Awarded a Grammy Legend Award.
• year 2000: divorced Adua Veroni. He married Nicoletta Montovani.
• 2003: twins were born – the son of Ricardo and the daughter of Alice. Only the daughter survived.
• 2004: found out about the oncological diagnosis. Went on stage for the last time.
• September 6, 2007: Date of death.