Luciano Pavarotti, dead at 71

[sidewinder]

Sad news - though not entirely unexpected. RIP.

Luciano Pavarotti

Edited September 6, 2007 by sidewinder

[Hardbopjazz]

The man with the great voice has just died at 71.

[mikeweil]

Oh well ..... the good life has its price. R.I.P., big man with the big voice.

Edited September 6, 2007 by mikeweil

[robviti]

earlier, but seriously misplaced. if anyone deserves to be called an artist, it is pavarotti. i will always cherish the memories of my father introducing me to opera by playing some of the great arias sung by this immensely gifted individual.

enjoy this clip of him singing nessun dorma:

now check out this duet with the godfather of soul: james and luciano

Edited September 6, 2007 by jazzshrink

[catesta]

riposare in pace

[porcy62]

Riposa in pace Big Luciano. As you sang: "All'alba vincerò".

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

I'm not a fan, but it is sad when someone with as much charisma as Pavarotti, who brought great joy to so many people, dies.

MG

[AndrewHill]

Wow, my wife just told me this when I just walked in the door. I'm not a fan either, but I recognize too how much joy he brought to so many lives. RIP.

[JSngry]

Definitely an icon of sorts, RIP and all that, but as an also non-fan (of him and of opera in general), I gotta ask - was there ever a time when he wasn't loud & bombastic?

[Chuck Nessa]

Definitely an icon of sorts, RIP and all that, but as an also non-fan (of him and of opera in general), I gotta ask - was there ever a time when he wasn't loud & bombastic?

Not an unconditional fan but the answer is yes. Sorry you don't enjoy opera. It is a rich field.

[JSngry]

I know, and there have been moments along the way that have enticed. But on the whole...

[Chuck Nessa]

Pretty much agree with Mark's post.

edit to say "outstanding clip".

Edited September 7, 2007 by Chuck Nessa

[Chuck Nessa]

Chuck:

Ever see him at Lyric? Or thwarted by the cancellations? Before he was banned around 1990, I think he cancelled 26 out of 41 times.

MS

Never saw him in an opera. Sold him some records once, in my Chicago retail days.

Must say I just watched that clip 4 times in a row. Thanks.

[Joe G]

That was an amazing performance - brought down the house!

[Jim Alfredson]

Wow. That's twice I've teared up today. The clip jazzshrink posted of Nessun Dorma was amazing as well. Thanks for the post, Mark.

[catesta]

That clip is a beautiful thing.

[Larry Kart]

Definitely an icon of sorts, RIP and all that, but as an also non-fan (of him and of opera in general), I gotta ask - was there ever a time when he wasn't loud & bombastic?

Jim -- If you're a non-fan of opera, you won't get a fair bit of where Armstrong and Bechet in particular were coming from. There's a 1906 recording of Donizetti's "A Tanto Amor" by the great baritone Mattia Battastini (1856-1928) where in the course of a closing cadenza he throws in a roulade that's so thrillingly Armstrong-like that you might not believe it. The tenor Fernando De Lucia (1860-1925) was another singer of that era who did things with time and timbre that jazz musicians could have fed on. Caruso (1873-1921), too, of course, but Battistini and De Lucia were of an earlier era in which a good deal more rhythmic fluidity and all-around freedom prevailed. But even if opera had no connection to jazz whatsoever... well, up to a certain point in my early teens I thought most classical music was indistinguishable from Mantovani.

[Larry Kart]

Just to be clear, there is evidence, in addition to the sound of their music, that Armstrong and Bechet encountered, really dug , and were influenced by Italian opera in the New Orleans of their youth.

[JSngry]

Jim -- If you're a non-fan of opera, you won't get a fair bit of where Armstrong and Bechet in particular were coming from.

No? You mean I have to be a "fan" to grasp the influence?

Hmmmm....

[T.D.]

I saw Pavarotti once, but past his prime and late-career: Tosca, Metropolitan Opera NYC, 1995. The voice was still excellent, but at that point he no longer lived up to the hype. He was severely overweight, and didn't even attempt acting, but rather stood motionless and sang. Fans still applauded loudly.

Of course, seeing Pavarotti in his prime would have been different, and I don't want to diminish his legacy.

[Teasing the Korean]

... For me, only Jussi Bjorling compares in the bel canto and lyric-spinto repertoire....MS

Curious, how do you rate Gigli for bel canto singing in relation to Bjorling or Pav?

[Larry Kart]

Jim -- If you're a non-fan of opera, you won't get a fair bit of where Armstrong and Bechet in particular were coming from.

No? You mean I have to be a "fan" to grasp the influence?

Hmmmm....

It would help, probably. Anyhow, there's so much great music there, i.e. in Opryland. BTW, Battistini's "A Tanto Amor" (I think it's the 1906 recording, but I can't be sure) can be downloaded here:

http://www.emusic.com/album/Mattia-Battist...d/11009191.html

The passage I have in mind comes almost at the end, but the excerpt that I can listen to without doing the whole downleading thing, only runs about 20 seconds.

[JSngry]

Jim -- If you're a non-fan of opera, you won't get a fair bit of where Armstrong and Bechet in particular were coming from.

No? You mean I have to be a "fan" to grasp the influence?

Hmmmm....

It would help, probably.

Probably not, since I "know" opera in the sense of knowing what it is/was, how/why it worked, etc. etc. etc., as well as the impact it had on any number of generations of any number of types of people. I know it just fine. I just don't, as a rule, like it.

I watched that Pavarotti clip, and, yes, I heard the amazing vocal timbre & phrasing. And then it was over. I "got" it, I just didn't like it. Appreciated the hell out of it, sure. How could you have any feel for music and not appreciate it? But did it reach me?

No.

And oh well about that. I don't eat everything that's "good" for me, and I don't like all the "good music" the world has to offer. And... Big fucking deal at this stage of the game. I've had years of life experience and "formal training" to think about it, and when push comes to shove, there's a level of "Western Civilization" that is too "Western" and/or "civilized" for me to buy into without beng dishonest with myself about who I am and what makes me tick. And opera, as a rule, is on that level.

BTW - I don't like musicals either, nor do I like cabaret. Like the a lot of the songs, though. Just not like that. Those are layers of American Western Civilization that do not have a runway in my psyche on which to land. Some very large & powerful crews have been contracted to build them, but they couldn't even clear the underbrush, much less level the land, build a village, and start the colonization.

I do, however, deeply appreciate and enjoy some of the devices of all of them things.

I also enjoy steak but not liver.

I grasp the influence of Ronald Reagan quite well, but I'm not a fan. Should I be, in order to grasp it even better?

Edited September 7, 2007 by JSngry

[Teasing the Korean]

BTW - I don't like musicals either, nor do I like cabaret. Like the a lot of the songs, though. Just not like that...

Completely understand where you're coming from.

One of my issues with many opera singers - including some highly regarded ones - is that they develop these uncontrolled vibratos that are so wide you can't even tell what note they're aiming for.

One of the reasons I love Gigli's voice so much is that his vibrato never lost control. It was always subtle, so his pitch was dead on.

[7/4]

One of my issues with many opera singers - including some highly regarded ones - is that they develop these uncontrolled vibratos that are so wide you can't even tell what note they're aiming for.

So big you could drive a truck through them.