Pavarotti - The Duets

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Pavarotti’s career went from highpoint, to higher, and in June 1965 he first appeared as Tonio in Donizetti’s La fille du régiment, at the Royal Opera House. As Bono comments in the documentary, “The reason why he is so great is because he lived those songs.

In 2001, Pavarotti received the Nansen Medal from the UN High Commission for Refugees for his efforts in raising money on behalf of refugees worldwide.To celebrate the 25th anniversary of his career, he brought the winners of the competition to Italy for gala performances of La bohème in Modena and Genoa, and then to China where they staged performances of La bohème in Beijing ( Peking).

Throughout the 1980s and 90s, promoters Tibor Rudas and Harvey Goldsmith booked Pavarotti into increasingly larger venues. When his teacher Arrigo Pola moved to Japan, Pavarotti became a student of Ettore Campogalliani, who at that time was also teaching Pavarotti's childhood friend, Mirella Freni, whose mother worked with Luciano's mother in the cigar factory. Though he was very much an exponent of the traditional Neapolitan song, Tosti actually became a British citizen in 1906. The following September, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, he sang for an estimated crowd of 300,000. Many will know this one from Pavarotti's Central Park concert in New York, but it actually holds an important place in history - it was the first song written for the Gramophone Company (otherwise known as HMV), back in 1904 by Ruggero Leoncavallo.Ariel David, "World Mourns Italian Tenor Pavarotti" Archived 26 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, WTOPnews. In June 1993, more than 500,000 listeners gathered for his free performance on the Great Lawn of New York's Central Park, while millions more around the world watched on television. This was recorded on a private label and widely distributed, as were various recordings of his I Capuleti e i Montecchi, usually with Aragall. Pavarotti’s blistering success in opera coincided with the growth of television as an everyday part of our lives, and he was soon making frequent performances that were broadcast to homes around the world.

But confronted with the death of a son, the greatest of pain, not even faith can help the feeling of desperation.

After the war in Bosnia, he financed and established the Pavarotti Music Centre in the southern city of Mostar to offer Bosnia's artists the opportunity to develop their skills. Like Pavarotti, Freni went on to become a successful opera singer; they would go on to collaborate in various stage performances and recordings together. The great Italian tenor collaborated with some of the biggest names in pop, rock and soul – and these exclusive performances are a testament to his incredible talent. Pavarotti’s performances include Schubert’s ‘Ave Maria’ with Bono from U2, ‘Perfect Day’ with Lou Reed, ‘When We Dance’ with Sting and ‘It’s a Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World’ with James Brown. Pergolesi, probably by Vincenzo Ciampi: Tre giorni son che Nina, Bellini, Tommaso Giordani, Rossini, Gluck, Tosti, Donizetti, Leoncavallo, Beethoven and Francesco Durante.